TARRANT COUNTY, Texas — Tarrant County Public Health said that as of Monday, there are 145 people hospitalized with COVID-19, the same number the previous day.
This is the 46th consecutive day the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations has been below 200.
The COVID-19 patients make up 3% of the total hospital bed capacity. The county currently has a 14-day average of 143 hospitalizations.
Health officials reported 186 new COVID-19 cases Monday. There have been 258,423 total cases in the county since tracking began in March 2020.
As of last Wednesday, there have been 1,199,789 doses of the COVID-19 vaccines distributed in Tarrant County.
Health officials also reported two new COVID-19 deaths, which were a white Settleman woman in her 60s and an Arlington woman in her 70s.
For a daily roundup of the latest news from around North Texas and beyond, sign up for the WFAA email newsletter.
Dallas County reports 188 new cases
Dallas County health officials announced 188 new COVID-19 cases Monday, bringing the county total to 258,440 since tracking began in March 2020.
Of these new cases, 61 are considered probable, because they came from antigen tests.
There were also six new deaths in the county. These ranged in age from a Dallas woman in her 60s to a Dallas woman in her 90s.
"Vaccination has slowed. and if you haven’t been vaccinated yet, you are now in the minority of eligible persons for a vaccine as 50.7% of our population has now received at least one dose," Judge Clay Jenkins said in a Tweet Monday.
Collin County averaging 57 new cases in the past 14 days
There were 17 new COVID-19 cases in Collin County on Monday, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. This is down from 65 on Sunday.
The county is averaging 57 new COVID-19 cases in the past 14 days.
Collin County health officials said the county currently has 61 COVID-19 hospitalizations as of Monday, down from 75 on Friday. This number has remained below 100 since April 16.
Health officials say COVID-19 patients make 2% of Collin County's total hospital bed capacity.
Denton County has 12 ICU beds available
Denton County health officials announced there are currently 12 ICU beds available in the county's hospitals.
COVID-19 patients currently make up 25% of the current Denton County patients in ICU beds.
Health officials also said there are currently 33 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in the county. There were 27 on Sunday and 29 on Saturday.
The county currently has a 14-day average of 29 hospitalizations.
Health officials announced 111 new COVID-19 cases Monday. There have now been 74,992 total cases since tracking began in March 2020.
As of Monday, 202,578 people in Denton County have received their first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine and 183,544 have received their second doses.
Texas long-term care facilities' cases remain below 100 for 17th straight day
Long-term care facilities in Texas are seeing a significant decrease in COVID-19 cases, according to statistics from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.
There were six new COVID-19 cases added in nursing facilities and assisted living facilities Monday, health officials said. The last time there were more than 100 reported cases happened on April 23, when there were 338 cases.
In April, long-term care facilities in Texas averaged eight new cases a day. This is the lowest monthly average since the state started tracking these numbers in late July. The second-lowest month was March, when the average was 37.
Through 10 days in May, these facilities are averaging 14 new cases a day.
The highest monthly average happened in December when Texas long-term care facilities were averaging 614 cases a day.
Texas reports fewer than 1,000 new cases
State health officials reported 651 new cases of COVID-19 Monday. This is the first day there were fewer than 1,000 cases since May 2, when there were 919 cases.
Texas has had fewer than 5,000 reported cases every day since March 3. The cases have started to level off since that point.
The state's current 14-day average is 1,948.
The record-high 14-day average happened from Jan. 4-17 when it was 18,915.
FDA expands vaccine use for children age 12-15
The Food and Drug Administration announced Monday it is expanding emergency use authorization for Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine to children ages 12-15.
The FDA action will be followed by the advisory committee's meeting, currently set for Wednesday. A draft agenda posted online says a vote would happen early Wednesday afternoon.
The agency said the two-dose vaccine has "met the statutory criteria" to allow the EUA to be amended, and says the "known and potential benefits of this vaccine in individuals 12 years of age and older outweigh the known and potential risks."
BioNTech set to make vaccines in Singapore
German pharmaceutical company BioNTech says it plans to create a state-of-the-art manufacturing site for its mRNA-based vaccines and other drugs in Singapore.
The company, which developed the first widely used coronavirus vaccine together with U.S. partner Pfizer, said Monday that it is also establishing a regional headquarters for Southeast Asia in the city-state.