As of Sept. 17, the level of community spread of the coronavirus remains "substantial" in Tarrant County, according to public health officials.
Tarrant County Public Health has confirmed 285 new coronavirus cases in the county in the past 24 hours.
Since public health officials began tracking the virus in mid-March, a total of 45,868 cases have been confirmed in Tarrant County, including 616 deaths and 40,330 patients who have recovered.
Among ZIP codes in the Keller-Roanoke-Northeast Fort Worth area, 76244 has the greatest number of new confirmed cases, with 60 reported between Sept. 8-17. That brings the total number of cases in that ZIP code to 940, which represents a rate of 161 cases per 100,000 residents during the past 30 days.The ZIP code with the second-highest number of new cases reported was 76177, with 53 new cases, for a 30-day rate of 278 cases per 100,000 residents. There is now a total of 276 cases confirmed in 76177.
The ZIP code with the third-highest number of new cases since Sept. 8 is 76248, with 51. There are now 611 total cases in that ZIP code, which represents a 30-day rate of 202 cases per 100,000 residents.
The ZIP code with the lowest number of new cases during that time was 76262, with 14. According to Denton County Public Health, there is a total of 284 confirmed cases in ZIP code 76262, including 232 patients who have recovered.
As of Sept. 14, the number of new COVID-19 cases confirmed in Denton County fell another 24% over the last seven reporting days as compared to the week before, reaching their lowest levels since late June.
Denton County health officials have reported 542 new cases since Sept. 6, a total that is down from the 713 new cases confirmed in the seven reporting days ending Sept. 5.
In southeast Denton County, hundreds of people were known, as of Sept. 14, to have an active case of the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, although that number declined in the past week. No new deaths were reported in the past seven days.
Since Sept. 8, there have been 10 new COVID-19 cases confirmed in the city of Roanoke. Officials have confirmed a total of 100 cases in the city, including 77 patients who have recovered.
The numbers of confirmed cases are partly dependent upon the number of tests administered, which is why the state tracks positivity rate as one of its key indicators.
The state's weekly positivity rate hit a record high of 24% as of Aug. 11 and has recently come down closer to 7%. The rate is averaged over the previous seven days and calculates the ratio of positive new cases compared with the number of tests conducted.
Gov. Greg Abbott has previously said that a rate of 10% or more is cause for concern. Here is a look at the rate since early April.
Among the key indicators to watch, health experts have said, is the number of hospitalizations. As of Sept. 17, Tarrant County health numbers indicate a total of 224 lab-confirmed COVID-19 patients are hospitalized in the county. According to TCPH, there are 218 occupied ventilators and 560 available ventilators in the county.
In Denton County, as of Sept. 17, there are 41 beds occupied by COVID-19 patients, according to DCPH. In addition, there are 105 ventilators occupied and 187 ventilators available within the county.
