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Tarrant County Public Health confirms 860 new cases of COVID-19 Tuesday along with another 13 new deaths.
It marked the first time since Nov. 17 that county officials reported fewer than 1,000 new cases in a single day, with the exception of Nov. 26-28, when it didn't report due to the Thanksgiving holiday.
The latest victims of the virus a Fort Worth woman in her 90s, a man and woman from Fort Worth in their 80s, two Fort Worth women in their 70s, a man from Forest Hill in his 70s, a man from Euless in his 70s, a woman from Arlington in her 70s, two Fort Worth men in their 60s, a woman from White Settlement in her 60s, a woman from Fort Worth in her 60s and a woman Grapevine woman in her 30s. All had underlying health conditions.
In the last seven days, the county has announced 10,674 new cases of the virus. Of the 860 additional cases reported Tuesday, data from the county health department indicates there are 712 more confirmed cases than the most recent report and 148 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 99,647 confirmed cases of the virus and 12,930 probable cases for a total of 112,725 cases.
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The county is also reporting another 884 estimated recoveries, bringing the total number of survivors to 79,977. There are currently an estimated 31,850 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 890 COVID-19 patients are currently occupying hospital beds in the county on Tuesday -- about 18% of capacity and an increase of nearly 15 patients compared to Monday. TCPH data shows 305 of 711 available ventilators in use, it's not clear how many are in use by COVID-19 patients.
With 885 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.
