Tarrant County COVID surge fills hospital beds, pushes ICU occupancy to 93%
COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are trending up in North Texas, fueling concerns about the delta variant and vaccination efforts, Tarrant County officials said.
Tarrant County reported Tuesday that 93% of adult ICU beds are occupied, with 90% of all hospital beds in use. Around 18% of beds occupied in Tarrant County are in use by COVID-19 patients.
Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley said everybody should be wearing masks and avoiding large crowds, though he cannot mandate it because of an executive order from Gov. Greg Abbott.
Anyone who has not received the vaccine should get it right away, he said during Tuesday’s county commissioners meeting.
“If you’ve got some concerns, talk to your doctor, the person you’ve trusted your health with all your life,” Whitley said. “Listen to them. If you have a reason for not getting vaccinated, if you can’t do it, then I understand that. Otherwise we need to get everybody vaccinated. We need to get back to normal.”
Whitley said he would consider a mask mandate if he were allowed to. The governor needs to hand control over virus prevention back to local governments, Whitley said.
“I’ve always been a strong proponent of local control, and I think that’s what we need right now,” Whitley said. “Texas is a big state. You need to let the folks, the elected officials at the local level do what they feel like’s best for their constituents.”
Tarrant County hospital capacity
Hospital capacity by available beds and ventilators for Tarrant County. Data provided by Tarrant County Public Health.
This story was originally published August 10, 2021 at 4:18 PM.