Tarrant County continued to see an increase in COVID-19 cases Tuesday, and officials expect case numbers to climb even higher after holiday gatherings over the next week.
Tarrant County Public Health Director Vinny Taneja says the department plans to increase testing capacity on Wednesday to keep pace with demand.
鈥淲hen the demand was really low, we were getting 10, 15 sample requests a day, so we had brought down the vendor locations to one day a week," Taneja said. "They're going back to a seven-day-a-week operation."
Tarrant County 716 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, and community spread remains high.
鈥淚t is time for caution for our community, and it starts with simple things,鈥� Taneja said. 鈥淚f you feel like you've got a scratchy throat or a seasonal allergy or a cold or anything of that sort, or even the flu, come get a COVID test at any of our testing locations.鈥�
The three testing sites with expanded hours Ben Thanh Market in Arlington, Resource Connection in Fort Worth and the Northeast Annex in Bedford. The locations will be closed for New Years Day this Saturday.
Stephen Love, president and CEO of the DFW Hospital Council, encourages all eligible North Texans to get vaccinated to ease the strain on the region's hospitals.
鈥淚 talked to physicians in Tarrant County today, and the majority of patients that they're treating for COVID-19 unvaccinated people,鈥� Love said. 鈥淪o if you're unvaccinated, please give serious thought and consideration to getting vaccinated and boosted. If we all work together, we can beat COVID.鈥�
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