Local COVID-19 ‘Spread Level’ Drops

During the last two years, it seemed like there’s been nothing but bad news concerning the pandemic. Well, Tarrant County finally has some good news coming its way. 

On Wednesday, Tarrant County lowered the COVID-19 spread level designation from “high” to “substantial” due to declining hospitalizations and case counts.

The County has four different grades in its classification system: high, substantial, moderate, and low. The designations are based on the percentage of positive COVID-19 tests over the course of seven days and the number of new cases per 100,000 people.  

A “substantial” spread level grade indicates that the County recorded between 50 to 99.9 new cases per 100,000 residents and an 8% to 9.999% positivity rate for tests during the seven-day period.  

There have been more than 366,000 cases and 4,800 deaths in Tarrant County since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. As of October 31, most of the new cases were those aged 25-44, followed by those younger than fifteen.  

“It’s a relative thing,” said Vinny Taneja, Tarrant County Public Health Director. “We’re at a substantial spread. There’s a lot of disease activity out there, but we’re seeing it on the way down. So, we’re excited about that.”  

Tarrant County’s spread level had remained at the “high” mark since July, as the Delta variant spread. Tarrant County Public Health Officials stressed that county residents should still take precautions, even with the data showing promising results.

“Let’s remain diligent about this and get the vaccine. We got holidays coming up. We don’t want a surge to come through on that deal,” said Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley.  

The focus for the County has not only been about vaccinations but also making sure people are taking their flu shots.