Dr. Vinny Taneja, Tarrant County Public Health director, told county commissioners during their Aug. 30 meeting that the community level dropped after a surge in July.
The seven-day average for cases, last reported Aug. 20, was 3,517. That followed a recent peak of 6,530 cases averaged over seven days during the week of July 23.
“All the indicators are starting to point lower or in a downward decline,” Taneja said. “If history is any indicator, I think we are going to be in good shape for the holiday season. ... I’m staying hopeful we don’t see a big surge, but for the last two or three years that’s been the case.”
Tarrant County reported 1,495 confirmed cases and 1,773 probable cases Aug. 27, according to numbers presented during the meeting. Appointments for COVID-19 testing are still available at various sites in the county.
Precinct 1 Commissioner Roy Charles Brooks attended the meeting virtually after he said he tested positive for the virus. He said he should be out of isolation later this week.
Taneja noted an increase in school-level cases with the start of classes this month. He continued to urge parents to get children vaccinated.
There are four vaccine sites available in Fort Worth, one in Arlington and one in Watauga.
Taneja also said that the COVID-19 bivalent booster shot, which contains the omicron variant, could be available as soon as this weekend. The amount of demand will dictate how many doses of the booster that Tarrant County will seek, he said. He noted in the past, the county ordered too many vaccine doses and did not use them.
While the COVID-19 numbers showed a decline, the number of monkeypox cases in Tarrant County continued to rise.
As of Aug. 30, the county had 112 cases, eight more than what was reported the previous day. On July 25, the county had 10 cases.
Statewide, there are 1,604 reported cases, Taneja said.
Tarrant County is offering the monkeypox vaccination with a daily average of 30 vaccines administered per day. On Aug. 29, a two-week schedule with 1,000 appointments was made available on the public health website, and about half had been filled within 24 hours.
The eligibility criteria and more information about the monkeypox vaccines are available on the county website.
