85 Texas Babies Have Coronavirus in Nueces County: Report

Eighty-five babies younger than 1 year tested positive for coronavirus in Nueces County, reports CNN.

The county, which includes Corpus Christi, has become emblematic of the state’s recent surge in coronavirus cases. When the pandemic began to devastate the state, Nueces County remained relatively healthy while the Amarillo region suffered.

Now, however, the beachfront location has one of the fastest growing outbreaks in the state, adding more than 2,000 new cases for each of the past two weeks.

“We currently have 85 babies under the age of one in Nueces County who have tested positive for COVID-19,” Annette Rodriguez, Corpus Christi Nueces County Director of Public Health, told CNN.

“These babies are not yet on their first birthday,” he said. “Please help us stop the spread of this disease.”

Rodríguez did not provide additional information about the children’s conditions.

As previously reported by The Texas Tribune, Nueces County Medical Examiner Adel Shaker said last week that a boy less than 6 months old had tested positive for COVID-19 and died.

In the past seven days, Nueces County has seen the fastest growth in new cases than any other metropolitan in the state, Corpus Christi city manager Peter Zanoni told CNN.

“You can see that the trend line is relatively flat through July, and this is where we have had that huge increase in cases, and that is why it has become a major problem for Nueces County,” he said.

Lately, Texas has become a new entry point for coronavirus cases, reporting a record 174 deaths on Friday, according to data from the Texas Department of State Health Services.