Tarrant County reports 5 COVID deaths on Saturday

This scanning electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2 (yellow)—also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus that causes COVID-19—isolated from a patient in the U.S., emerging from the surface of cells (pink) cultured in the lab. Credit: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases-Rocky Mountain Laboratories, NIH

Tarrant County Public Health on Saturday, Aug. 15 reported five COVID-19 deaths and 1,487 new cases. The increase in cases is expected to continue for a few days while old data is received from the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS). Many of the tests are from more than a month ago and largely from private labs. An influx of recoveries is expected to be reported over the next couple of days as well.

The deceased include one man from Fort Worth in his 80s, one woman from Benbrook in her 70s, a man and woman from Arlington both in their 60s and a woman from Arlington in her 40s. The two Arlington women had no underlying conditions.

The new cases are the result of an electronic lab report backlog being sent from the DSHS.

DSHS recently upgraded its disease surveillance system to provide more timely information to local health departments.

- FWBP Digital Partners -

Tarrant County now has 451 confirmed deaths from the COVID-19 virus and 26,396 people have recovered.