The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About4a. COVID-19 Updates and DataCOVID-19 Update March 23, 2021 Brandon Scott Bennett, Public Health Officer/Code Compliance Director Tarrant County COVID-19 Statistics Metric Last Council Presentation (03/02/21) Today’s Presentation Percentage (Inc./Dec) Total Number of Cases 242,243 249,007 +3% New Cases -7 Day Total 3,329 1,773 -47% Deaths 2,873 3,209 +12% Vaccine –1st Shot 211,874 (10%)339,054 (16%)*+60% Fully Vaccinated 101,970 (5%)171,153 (8%)*+68% •Vaccine information updated every Wednesday (above information from 03/17/21) •Percentage of Tarrant County residents who have received the vaccine Global Confirmed: 123,302,986 Global Deaths: 2,716,829 Source: John’s Hopkins University (3/22/21) U.S. Confirmed: 29,819,314 U.S. Deaths: 542,359 Source: John’s Hopkins University (3/22/21) 2 COVID Testing Trends 3 •Testing demand following viral trend: Fewer People Sick = Fewer Tests Conducted •Find a Testing Location: https://www.fortworthtexas.gov/covid-19/testing Tarrant County Hospitals 4 COVID-19 hospitalizations have decreased by 43% over the last two weeks. Will watch numbers closely to see if there are impacts from Spring Break travel How Mobile are North Texans? 5 •Survey-based mobility data through March 7th showed a sizable jump during the prior week in people attending events. •Reports of spending time with those in other households returned to mid-December levels. COVID-19 Current Risk Status 6 Key Public Health Metrics Are We Meeting Objective Reproduction Number (R Naught) Less Than 1.0 Yes Sustained or declining virus numbers over 14 days Yes Sufficient/available hospital beds/resources Yes Widely available viral testing and lab capacity Yes Effective Contact Tracing to contain viral spread Yes Available Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)Yes COVID-19 Vaccines Yes City of Fort Worth’s Role in Vaccines •Fill in the gaps –matching available resources to needs •Focusing on neighborhood level vaccination sites to interact with hard to reach and vulnerable populations, including the •Homebound •Homeless •Supporting private and public sector vaccination efforts •Convening stakeholders and setting up forums for discussion to allow for better collaboration and less duplication of efforts •Educating and vaccinating the City of Fort Worth workforce so we can continue providing services to the public in a safe manner 7 Vaccine Eligibility •State of Texas is sharing information with the public as the vaccine tiers open. •Important to get residents on the list so they will be ready when vaccines become available Vaccines available for the general public –estimated May 20211C opened Monday, March 15th COVID Vaccine Registration Statistics 9 788,580 people registered with TCPH •511,046 Tarrant County Residents (65%) •277,534 Out of County Residents (35%) •669,421 Eligible (84%) •48,929 Group 1A •563,001 Group 1B •57,491 Group 1C Expanded Eligibility •School teachers and childcare workers •Age 50 -64 Vaccination Operations •Vaccine operations continue to maximize all available weekly allocations of vaccines •Most sites receive appointments from Tarrant County Public Health database (e.g., Farrington Field, Bob Bolen, Resource Connection, THR sites, UNTHSC sites, etc.) •TMS receives appointments from Denton County Public Health •Residents are reminded to sign-up with multiple providers, including private providers (e.g., pharmacies, doctor’s offices) 10 Vaccination Strategies and Plans •Continue to layer in neighborhood and pop - up clinics with MedStar •Continue to coordinate with City of Burleson to vaccinate through special operations (e.g., homebound, senior living facilities) •Completing application for City to be an independent provider to increase potential for neighborhood and small-scale, local vaccination events •Locate vaccine providers at: https://vaccinefinder.org/ 11 New Vaccination Site •Ebenezer Missionary Church, 1901 Amanda Ave. •Partnership Between TCPH/UNTHSC •This Week -Soft Launch –Tuesday (3/23) – Friday (9am-5pm) •Schedule Moving Forward –Monday – Friday (9am-5pm) 12 Community Outreach & Education •Understand the need for City of Fort Worth to play a role in educating the community about the COVID - 19 vaccination •Messages need to be targeted to specific communities to ensure we are truly addressing concerns and hesitations about taking the vaccine •Use trusted spaces and trusted voices within communities to target and help in the delivery of outreach efforts •Working with Tarrant County, THR, UNTHSC, JPS, and others as we craft community messages •Receiving stakeholder group feedback on educational materials 13 Community Outreach and Education •Town Halls •Hosted Virtual Town Hall with Councilmember Gray to dispel myths and answer questions •Can schedule additional town hall meetings with interested councilmembers •Update flyers and partner with community organizations to get them to residents •Food distribution sites •Churches •City facilities •Hand-delivered by staff 14 Community Outreach and Education •All information is shared through city communications channels: •City News and District Newsletters –18,000 •Nextdoor –255,000 followers (targeted and citywide) •Facebook –55,119 followers •Twitter –169,300 followers •Community Engagement Bulletin –2,300 neighborhood & community leaders •Faith-based Bulletin –381 church leaders •Media –178 contacts •Utilizing media buys and public service announcements •Partner with outside agencies to share messages while also targeting our neighborhoods with low registration and vaccinations 15 Hiring -Administrative support at vaccine sites •Hiring up to 100 part-time vaccine site assistants to staff community clinics. These are administrative positions and will not administer vaccines. •Pay is $15 per hour. •Up to 10 months. •20 –40 hours a week. •Fluent in Spanish preferred. •Position is currently posted on city’s website. Thank you and please remember to keep wearing your masks and practicing social distancing!