The Tarrant County Public Health Department confirmed 1,500 new cases of COVID-19 Tuesday along with another 16 new deaths. TCPH is also reporting 1,139 people are hospitalized in the county with the virus.
In the last seven days, the county has announced 11,648 new cases of the virus. Of the 1,500 additional cases reported Tuesday, data from the county health department indicates there are 1,288 more confirmed cases than the most recent report and 212 more probable cases.
Tarrant County, which extended its mask mandate until Feb. 28, 2021, last month, began reporting both probable and confirmed cases of COVID-19 in August at the request of the state health department. Probable cases, the county said, account for a variety of real-world situations and could highlight cases in the community that may otherwise go unreported. To date, the county has reported 117,237 confirmed cases of the virus and 16,854 probable cases for a total of 134,091 cases.
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The county is also reporting another 964 estimated recoveries from the previous day, bringing the total number of survivors to 98,313. There are currently an estimated 34,400 active cases in the county, the most of any North Texas county.
Of the county's cases, 72% of those who have died were over the age of 65 even though they only make up 10% of the cases. Those aged 25 to 44 make up the largest percentage of people with COVID-19 at 35%.
The health department reports Tuesday 1,139 COVID-19 patients were occupying hospital beds in the county through Monday, which accounts for more than 22% of capacity.
With 1,378 deaths now attributed to the virus, COVID-19 is now projected to be the third-leading killer of Tarrant County residents behind cancer and heart disease and is expected to surpass the annual total for stroke later this year.
COVID-19 causes a respiratory illness with cough, fever and shortness of breath and may lead to bronchitis, severe pneumonia or even death. For more information go to coronavirus.tarrantcounty.com or call the Tarrant County Public Health information line, 817-248-6299, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
