The Tarrant County Public Health Department confirms 2,112 new cases of COVID-19 Wednesday along with nine new deaths, bringing the county's total number of confirmed and probable cases of the virus to nearly 86,000 with 811 fatalities.
Of the 2,112 additional cases reported Wednesday, data from the county health department indicates there are 1,946 more confirmed cases than the day before and 166 more probable cases. County officials told NBC 5 that the spike in cases does not appear to be part of any backlog or delay in reporting.
The latest nine victims of the virus include a man from Haltom City in his 80s, a man from Burleson in his 70s, a man and woman from Fort Worth in their 70s, a man and woman from Fort Worth in their 60s, a man from Arlington in his 60s, a man from Arlington in his 50s and a man from Fort Worth in his 50s. Eight of the individuals had underlying health conditions.
Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price and her husband Tom were both confirmed to have contracted the virus Wednesday.
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Tarrant County began reporting both probable and confirmed cases 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 76,140 confirmed cases of the virus and 9,619 probable cases for a total of 85,759 cases.
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The county is also reporting another 716 estimated recoveries, bringing the total number of survivors to 63,223. There are currently an estimated 21,725 active cases in the county, the most of any North Texas county.
Of the county's cases, 71% 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 36%.
The health department reports 794 COVID-19 patients are currently occupying hospital beds in the county on Wednesday -- about 15% of capacity and 16 more than were hospitalized Tuesday. TCPH data shows 762 ventilators on hand with 490 being available; of the 272 in use (13 more than on Tuesday) it's not clear how many are in use by COVID-19 patients.
The DFW Hospital Council's confirms Wednesday there are 2,231 people in North Texas hospitals with COVID-19, a slight drop from Tuesday's 2,264 patients. COVID-19 patients in DFW represent 14% of available beds and 34% of ICU patients, according to the council.
With 811 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.
