COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations continue steady increase among unvaccinated North Texans

North Texas hospitals report an uptick in COVID-19 patients

North Texas hospitals are sounding the alarm as they report an uptick in the number of COVID-19 patients, most of them unvaccinated. There's now a push to get more people vaccinated.

DALLAS - Here in North Texas, over the past two days, almost 100 people with COVID-19 were admitted to DFW hospitals.

While the Metroplex isn’t seeing winter peak levels, thanks mostly to widespread access to the vaccine, the patients in the hospital continue to have something in common, and it’s they aren’t vaccinated.

"We are fast approaching one out of every five patients in ICU has COVID-19," said Dr. Stephen Love, with the DFW Hospital Council.

North Texas hospitals continue to see a steady increase in COVID-19 admissions.

On Friday, there were 700 patients were in DFW hospitals with COVID-19. Just 48 hours later, that number now stands at 784, which is more than double the patients on June 30.

FILE - Stock image of an empty hospital bed. (FOX TV Stations)

"The other disturbing factor is the majority of these patients have not been vaccinated," Dr. Love said.

Texas Health and Human Services recorded that Texas crossed over the 10% positivity rate, a percentage the state hasn’t seen since February.

In Tarrant County, the community spread level has been changed to "high."

The county health department reported almost 1,500 new COVID-19 cases this weekend, as the Delta variant continues to target the unvaccinated.

"What we're seeing is that this virus is an opportunist. It is going to places where people are not fully vaccinated," explained CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky.

Dallas County is still working to vaccinate almost half the county.

The Fair Park mass vaccination hub is now closed after administering half a million shots over the last six months.

Now the county is relying on vaccine outreach efforts on a smaller scale, hoping to convince anyone who still is hesitant.

"They are playing Russian roulette, because the virus is going to go after them," Love said.

Recent UT Southwestern Medical Center modeling shows if current trends continue, there could be a fall surge worse than the summer of 2020.

As cases continue to rise, the average age of infections is dropping across Texas.

The age group with the most infections is 30 to 39 years old.

And only 25% percent of 12 to 15 year olds in North Texas are fully vaccinated, as the window to continues to close with school right around the corner.

"They want it in the rear-view mirror, but it’s not in the rear-view mirror," Love said. "If you couple with the variant and the people unvaccinated, frankly, as much as we hate to say it, we are not surprised to see this spike in numbers."

Dr. Love did say that bed capacity is not an issue right now here in North Texas.

But the current COVID-19 hospital numbers in North Texas are numbers that haven’t been seen since March.