Tarrant County on Tuesday, April 7 reported that five more residents of the county have died due to the COVID-19 virus on a day that saw a record number of cases reported in the county.
Tarrant County Public Health (TCPH) said two of the deceased are from Fort Worth, one is from River Oaks and one is from Grand Prairie and one from Haltom City. Two of the patients had underlying health conditions.
Ages of the patients ranged from 47 to 88; all were hospitalized locally.
“It is very unfortunate and disheartening for our community to see the death toll rising from COVID-19” said Tarrant County Public Health Director Vinny Taneja.
Tarrant County has now seen a total of 18 confirmed deaths from the COVID-19 virus.
In its latest report updated April 7, TCPH said there were 517 COVID-19 cases in Tarrant County, with 53 who have recovered from the disease. Sixty-two cases were reported on Monday, by far the highest number of COVID-19 cases reported in one day.
Fort Worth has 196 cases of the virus and Arlington has 86. Mansfield has reported 26 cases and Euless 22.
Forty percent of the cases in Tarrant County are in people who are aged 45 to 64 and 36 percent are in people 25 to 44. Those over 65 account for 20 percent of the cases.
Taneja urged all residents to strictly follow the Executive Orders issued this past week by County Judge Glen Whitley and engage only in essential activities; stay home as much as possible; and maintain social distancing.
“I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to follow these directives,” Taneja said. “This is not the time to be complacent. We can get through this, but only if everyone does their part and follows the guidelines without exception,” he said. “These are difficult times for all of us; and particularly for the families and friends of those we have lost to this disease. Our hearts go out to them.”
“Based on all the reports we are seeing, we could very well be about to see a spike in COVID-19 activity in our county,” he said. “Although it is difficult to predict, we must do everything we can to prepare ourselves for what may be ahead. Early indications are that we could be looking at significant numbers of positive cases and many more deaths,” he said.
On Monday, the Fort Worth Police Department announced that a fourth Fort Worth officer has tested positive for COVID-19. The officer has been off work since March 20, is home recovering and doing well.
The Fort Worth Police Department said it is taking precautions to stop the virus spread. A team is investigating and backtracking the movements and encounters of each infected officer. Anyone who may be at risk and may need to self-isolate is being contacted.
Denton County Public Health (DCPH) on Tuesday, April 7 announced 29 new laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Denton County. This increases the countywide total to 366 confirmed COVID-19 cases.
The laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 Denton State Supported Living Center (DSSLC) resident total remains at 50 and the DSSLC staff total remains at 43. To protect patient confidentiality, no further personal information will be released.