Tarrant County reported a single-day high 1,673 new coronavirus cases and eight more deaths on Wednesday.

The record for new COVID-19 cases is nearly twice the previous high of 871 on July 22.

Explaining Wednesday’s record, a county spokesperson said in an email, “The majority of that is adjusting to the new DSHS requirement to include probable cases in our totals, so we do expect to be back to our normal reporting levels tomorrow. This is not a spike.”

On Wednesday the county’s coronavirus data website was updated to show probable cases as well as confirmed cases. Probable cases can include those where a test detects a specific antibody or antigen, according to a notice on the website.

Among the latest deaths were two women in their 40s from Sansom Park and Fort Worth.

The other deaths include a woman in her 70s and a man and a woman in their 80s from Arlington, a Southlake woman in her 80s, a Haltom City man in his 50s, and a Fort Worth woman in her 60s. All eight had underlying health conditions, according to officials.

Tarrant County has confirmed a total of 31,835 coronavirus cases, including 404 deaths and an estimated 18,886 recoveries. Of the total cases, 30,227 are confirmed and 1,608 are probable, according to the website. The probable cases were all added this week as part of a change in the state’s data reporting procedures, the website shows.

Tarrant County has reported more than 800 new daily cases six times, including 805 on Tuesday. The other four were in July, including 836 on Thursday.

Pandemic-related deaths in Tarrant County by city through Aug. 5:

• Fort Worth, 210
• Arlington, 64
• Keller, 17

• Grapevine, 14

• White Settlement, 14

• Mansfield, 13

• Grand Prairie, 11

• Benbrook, 8
• Bedford, 6

• Rural Tarrant County, 6

• Azle, 5

• Haltom City, 5

• Hurst, 5
• Lake Worth, 5

• Forest Hill, 3

• Euless 2,

• North Richland Hills, 2

• Saginaw, 2

• Sansom Park, 2

• Southlake, 2

• Watauga, 2
• Crowley, 1
• Kennedale, 1
• Lakeside, 1
• Pantego, 1
• Richland Hills, 1
• River Oaks, 1

Tarrant County hospital capacity

Hospital capacity by available beds and ventilators for Tarrant County. Data provided by Tarrant County Public Health.

Steve Wilson swilson@star-telegram.com

This story was originally published August 5, 2020 at 5:31 PM.

Stefan Stevenson

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Stefan Stevenson was a sports writer for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram from 1997 to 2022. He covered TCU athletics, the Texas Rangers and the Dallas Cowboys.