TEXAS, USA — Tarrant County Public Health reported there are currently 870 people hospitalized with COVID-19. That's down from 928 the previous day.
This is the first time the county's daily hospitalizations have dropped below 900 since there were 896 people hospitalized with COVID-19 on Aug. 15.
COVID-19 patients currently make up 19% of the total hospital bed capacity.
There were 26 new deaths Wednesday, according to local health officials. These ranged in age from a White Settlement woman in her 20s to a Haltom City man in his 80s.
There have now been 4,273 COVID-19 deaths since tracking began in March 2020.
There were also 1,020 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday. There have been 344,848 total cases in the county since tracking began in March 2020.
As of last Wednesday, there have been 2,474,541 total doses of the COVID-19 vaccine administered in Tarrant County, according to health officials.
Dallas County reports 13 new deaths
Dallas County Health and Human Services reported 13 new COVID-19 deaths Wednesday.
These ranged in age from a Dallas man in his 30s to a Dallas woman in her 80s.
This brings the county's confirmed COVID-19 death total to 4,649 since tracking began in March 2020.
There were also 927 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday, according to local health officials.
Of the new cases, 277 are considered probable because they came from antigen tests.
There have now been 329,663 total confirmed cases since tracking began in March 2020.
Collin County health officials report 325 hospitalizations
Collin County health officials said the county currently has 325 people hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Wednesday.
This is the lowest it has been since there were 318 on Aug. 11.
COVID-19 patients make up 12% of Collin County's total hospital bed capacity, according to county data.
There were also 213 new COVID-19 cases in Collin County Wednesday, according to data from the Texas Department of State Health Services. This is down from 232 on Tuesday.
County health officials do not report daily case count statistics.
The county's current 14-day case count average is 265, state data shows. The record average of 708 happened from Dec. 31 to Jan. 13.
Denton County has two ICU beds currently available
Denton County Public Health reported there are two ICU beds currently available in the county's hospitals. It has remained at this level since Monday.
There are currently 167 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in the county, up from 161 on Tuesday. Denton County hospitalizations have remained below 200 every day since Sept. 11.
The county currently has a 14-day average of 171 hospitalizations.
Health officials reported 509 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday. There have now been 100,516 total cases in the county since tracking began in March 2020.
As of Monday, 207,136 people in Denton County have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, 198,435 have received their second dose and 1,032 have received their third dose.
State officials report 9,323 hospitalizations
On Wednesday, state health officials reported there are currently 9,323 COVID-19 hospitalizations in Texas. This is down from 9,551 the previous day.
State hospitalizations have currently declined every day for 22 consecutive days.
The record-high number of hospitalizations happened on Jan. 11, when there were 14,218 patients in Texas hospitals.
The state currently has a 14-day average of 11,060 hospitalizations.
State officials add fewer than 10,000 cases for sixth time in the last seven days
State health officials reported 9,168 new cases of COVID-19 Wednesday, up from 4,531 cases Sunday.
Texas has had fewer than 10,000 daily cases reported in six of the last seven days.
The state's current 14-day average is 9,213.
The record-high average happened from Jan. 4-17 when it was 18,915.
State health officials report 282 new cases in long-term care facilities
There were 282 new COVID-19 cases added in nursing facilities and assisted living facilities Wednesday, state health officials said.
This is the third consecutive day there have been more than 200 reported daily cases.
In August, these facilities averaged 205 new cases a day. So far through September, they are averaging 200.
The highest monthly average happened in December when Texas long-term care facilities were averaging 614 cases a day.
Texas adds 132 new daily cases in child care facilities
Texas child care centers reported 132 new daily cases, including children and employees, in Texas child care facilities Wednesday, according to statistics from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.
This is the first time there have been more than 100 reported daily cases since there were 114 new cases on Sept. 21.
Child care centers, along with before-school and after-school programs, have to report COVID-19 cases to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. Those cases are reported daily here.
The current 14-day average is 77 new cases a day. This is the lowest it has been since the average was 74 from July 22 to Aug. 4.
Cases down by 10% globally, according to WHO
The World Health Organization reported that the global number of new COVID-19 cases and deaths continued to fall in the past week, with an estimated 3.3 million new infections and about 55,000 deaths, marking a 10% drop in both.
In its regular assessment of the pandemic issued on Tuesday, the U.N. health agency said the biggest drops in new cases were seen in the Middle East, the Western Pacific and the Americas.
WHO first reported a substantial decrease in cases in mid-September at 4 million new cases, with declines seen in all areas of the world, the first time in more than two months that COVID-19 cases had fallen.
CDC director outlines Halloween trick-or-treating safety measures
Halloween trick-or-treating outside this year should be safe for children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
When asked Sunday on CBS's "Face the Nation" if kids are safe to trick-or-treat this year, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said, “If you’re able to be outdoors, absolutely.”
Last year, health officials discouraged going full on with Halloween festivities, citing concerns over social distancing, even outdoors.
Nationwide blood shortage not connected to COVID-19 vaccines
Angela Broome Powley with the American Red Cross told VERIFY that the COVID-19 pandemic has provided a challenge for blood donation since the start of the pandemic, but factors including staffing shortages, increased demand and virtual work have impacted blood supply, not the vaccine.
According to the Red Cross’ website, in most cases, there’s no blood donation wait time if you receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
However, knowing the name of the manufacturer is important in determining your eligibility to donate blood.
YouTube will immediately start banning COVID-19 anti-vaccine misinformation
YouTube announced Wednesday it is banning COVID-19 anti-vaccine misinformation and vaccine conspiracy theories on the video-sharing platform.
The company will ban videos that falsely allege approved vaccines are dangerous and cause chronic health effects, as well as claims that vaccines don't reduce the transmission or contraction of a disease.
YouTube reported that since 2020 it has removed more than 130,000 videos that violated its COVID-19 vaccine policies.