“The numbers are starting to stabilize," Taneja told county commissioners at their Jan. 25 meeting. "We’re hopeful this starts a downturn.”
Taneja added that the r-naught—the rate of infected individuals passing the virus onto others—has dropped to 1.03. On Jan. 25, the county reported 6,405 new cases, a marked decrease from the 10,466 new cases reported the previous day, he said.
However, there is another COVID-19-related benchmark looming, he said.
“Probably tomorrow [Jan. 26] we will surpass 500,000 [total] cases in Tarrant County. Over the last two years, one fourth of Tarrant County has [become] ill with COVID[-19], about 100,000 people in the last month,” Taneja said.
The total number of COVID-19 patients at area hospitals—which recently peaked at just over 1,500—has dropped to 1,339, Taneja said.
During his presentation, he underscored the importance of getting vaccinated and getting boosters.
“We’ve given almost 1.6 million vaccine doses. Almost 60% of the county is vaccinated,” Dr. Taneja said. “We’re really slow [on boosters]. Right now, 321,000 [are boosted], a huge delta between [people with] two doses versus people who got their booster."
This week also saw the unveiling of VaxMobile, a partnership between Trinity Metro and the county that uses a 60-foot bus converted into a vaccination facility. The bus made its first appearance at the Fort Worth Public Library’s Meadowbrook branch and then at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church on Lancaster Street. It administered 44 vaccines on its first day. Depending on demand, VaxMobile is expected to operate on Thursdays for 10-12 weeks.
