Tarrant County Reports Hospitalizations Up, 3 Deaths, 634 New COVID-19 Cases Friday – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

Three more people have died in Tarrant County after contracting COVID-19, according to the Tarrant County Public Health Department who also confirmed more hospitalizations related to the virus on Friday along with 634 new cases and 240 recoveries.

With three new deaths reported, the number of fatalities in the county related to COVID-19 is now at 254. The latest victims include a woman in her 80s from Euless, and a woman in her 60s and a man in his 80s, both from Fort Worth.  All had underlying health conditions.

The addition of the latest cases brings the total number of infections in Tarrant County to 17,334 since testing began in March. The county’s 7-day average through Friday is 558 cases per day; last Friday the 7-day average was 388 new cases per day.

The increase in cases comes as the state’s positivity rate, the percentage of people testing positive for the virus, has been sustained well over 10% for more than two weeks and grew to more than 15% on Thursday. An increase in the positivity rate indicates an increase in the spread of the virus, not an increase in testing for the virus.

The county is also reporting 240 recoveries Friday, bringing the total number of survivors to 7,730. There are currently an estimated 9,342 active cases in the county.

Of the county’s cases, 67% of those who have died were over the age of 65. Those aged 25 to 44 make up the largest percentage of people with COVID-19 at 39%.

As of Friday, the county reported: 1,518 available hospital beds, 192 fewer than on Thursday; 417 available ventilators, 22 more than reported Thursday; of the 9,942 active cases, 635 of those people are hospitalized, 55 more than were hospitalized the day before.