The Department of Public Health in Tarrant County confirms that the therapeutic drugs in the county have a capacity of 99% on Tuesday, with only six beds available. The county health department also confirmed that another 1,278 new cases of COVID-19 were reported on Tuesday, along with another 23 new deaths.
At the meeting of the commission commissioners from Tarrant County, on Tuesday, the director of public health, Vinny Taneja, reported that the county still has six ICU beds left.
“Someone has a heart attack or a bad car accident, now you have to decide which person is more critical. Where do you put them? Do you put them in intensive care or do you try to treat them outside of ICU care?” Taneja explained. “There the burden of a disease becomes overwhelming.”
According to the TCPH COVID-19 scoreboard, there are 1,323 patients with COVID-19 in county hospitals and that they represent 29% of intensive care patients. The total bed occupancy rate for all hospital beds in the county is now 88%.
Of the 1,323 patients with COVID-19, 258 are in intensive care.
The public health department in Tarrant County confirms 2,016 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, along with 16 other new deaths. TCPH also reports more than 1,030 people are hospitalized in the county with the virus, including more than 200 in the ICU.
“Hospitals have plans to increase the pandemic. Let me not scare people, because they don’t know or don’t have the capacity. Yes, but do you really want to extend that capacity? We already know that we are weak in terms of staff,” he said. Taneja. “The staff has been working in the hospital for almost 10 months to deal with a lot of COVID and diseases. They are tired. Some of them had COVID, the family with COVID, some of them died. So do you really want to stretch that capacity? “
In the last seven days, the county announced 11,188 new cases of virus or an average of 1,431 per day. Data from the county health department indicate that there are 1,278 more confirmed cases than the most recent report and 31 fewer cases.
The latest victims included a man from Keller who was over 100, a woman from Bedford in the 90’s, a man from Hurst in the 90’s, a woman from Fort Worth in the 90’s, a woman from Fort Worth in the 80’s, two men from Bedford in the 80s, two women from Mansfield in the 80s, two men from Fort Worth in the 80s, a man from Grapevine in the 80s, a woman from Bedford in the 70s, a man from Crowley in the 70s, two men from Benbrook 70s, a man from Fort Worth in 70s, a woman from Hurst in 70s, a man from Fort Worth in 60s, a woman from Euless in 60s, a man from Crowley in 50s, a man from Mansfield in 50s and a 30-year-old Fort Worth man. Three had no underlying health conditions, three had unknown basic conditions, while the others had basic conditions.
Tarrant County, which extended its term of office until February 28, 2021, last month, began reporting both probable and confirmed cases of COVID-19 in August, at the request of the state health department. The probable cases, the county said, represent a variety of real-world situations and could highlight cases in the community that might otherwise go unreported. So far, the county has reported 127,256 confirmed cases of the virus and 18,023 probable cases for a total of 145,279 cases.
The county also reports another 1,113 estimated recoveries, bringing the total number of survivors to 106,644. Currently, there are an estimated 37,187 active cases in the county, most of any county in North Texas.
With 1,448 deaths now attributed to the virus, COVID-19 is now projected to be the third killer of Tarrant County residents behind cancer and heart disease and is expected to exceed the annual total for stroke later this year.
COVID-19 causes a respiratory illness with cough, fever and difficulty breathing and can lead to bronchitis, severe pneumonia or even death. For more information, visit coronavirus.tarrantcounty.com or call the Tarrant County Public Health Information Line, 817-248-6299, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.