EL PASO, Texas – El Paso health officials reported two new coronavirus deaths Sunday morning, bringing the death toll to 293 and marking the 21st consecutive day of virus-related deaths in the province.
The last victims were both men, one in his 60s and the other in his 70s. Men have now been responsible for a much higher number of deaths than women in El Paso during the entire pandemic.
Health leaders also reported 268 new virus cases on Sunday, bringing the total infection to 16,308. Of those, 4,362 cases were considered active – a new record high – above 4,037 active on 21 July.
New infections have remained alarmingly high, according to Bob Moore of El Paso Matters – who conducts a weekly analysis of the province’s virus data.
“El Paso has reported more than 8,600 new Covid-19 cases in the past five weeks, double the total number of cases reported in the first 14 weeks of the pandemic,” he observed.
The zip codes 79927, 79928 and 79938 – which are all in eastern El Paso County – have so far had the highest rates per head of virus cases.
Moore believes this can be attributed to large numbers of people in their 20s and 30s living in those areas, as those age groups are the biggest surge in recent infections. However, he acknowledges that the Rogelio Sanchez State Jail is also responsible for a significant number of cases in 79938.
As of Sunday, there have been 11,946 recoveries – although research suggests that some people who recover from the virus have long-term health problems as a result of infection.
Hospitalizations continued to decline 211 patients Sunday morning. That is the lowest number of people hospitalized with disease from the virus since July 5th. Data suggested that 72 of those patients currently needed intensive care, while 40 were on ventilators.
