Hidalgo County confirmed more than 500 new positive cases and one death this weekend.
Hidalgo County Judge Richard F. Cortez announced the death of a Pharr woman in her 60s and 547 new positive cases in a press release on Sunday.
“My prayers go out to the family and friends of the victim this weekend, another tragic loss from this terrible disease,” Cortez said. “As you begin a new work week, keep in mind the safety of yourself and those around you. Stay home if possible, wear face covers and avoid other people. ”
The new confirmations bring the total number of reported cases in the county to 5,345, although only 3,452 remain active, and a total of 59 deaths.
The newly infected range in age from infant to 70-year-old, and come from the cities of Alamo, Alton, Donna, Edinburg, Hidalgo, McAllen, Mercedes, Mission, Pharr, San Juan, and Weslaco; The location of 42 cases was not disclosed and one was classified as “OOA”.
As of Sunday night, 571 people remained hospitalized due to complications from the virus, and 144 of them were treated in intensive care units.
Additionally, the county reported that 235 individuals were released from isolation, meaning that they have been symptom-free for 10 days, including three days without fever, bringing the total number of individuals released from isolation to 1,834.
As of Sunday, the county had conducted 52,422 COVID-19 tests, with 44,628 negative results and 2,449 pending test results.
On Sunday, Senator Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa confirmed that 628 health professionals had been deployed to South Texas last week, and announced that additional help was on the way.
The deployment came after county judges and hospital administrators asked the state for additional staff to keep up with an increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations.
BCFS, a nonprofit organization that specializes in public health and partners with the state to receive a medical response, sent additional staff to hospitals and medical centers across the Rio Grande Valley last week, Hinojosa said in a statement. of press on Sunday.
As of June 29, the state had deployed 112 employees in Edinburg and 46 employees in McAllen, all while it was determined to deploy more during the week, Hinojosa said.
“I appreciate the requests and tireless efforts of our South Texas judges and hospital administrators to respond to the increase in the number of hospitalizations due to COVID-19 complications,” it said in the statement. “We thank Governor Greg Abbott and our state agencies for acting quickly on our requests and providing aid to our region.”
According to the press release, the following hospitals in Cameron County received additional staff members: Valley Baptist Medical Center in Harlingen received 56, Valley Baptist Medical Center in Brownsville received 32, Harlingen Medical Center received 22, and the Medical Center Harlingen Regional received 28.
In Hidalgo County, the Edinburg Regional Medical Center received 55, the Renaissance Medical Hospital in Edinburg received 354, the Rio Grande Regional Hospital received 46, the McAllen Heart Hospital received eight, and the Starr County Memorial received 27.
“To carry out our mission of successfully providing the health care needs for COVID-19, everyone at all levels of government is required to work together,” said Hinojosa. “We are all in this together, and we can only succeed through collective action where everyone works to resolve this crisis as a single community.”
There are still pending requests for help. Hidalgo and Cameron counties requested ambulance strike teams, and hospitals need ventilators. Ten were expected to arrive at the Renaissance Medical Hospital on Sunday night, and another deployment of ventilators will arrive in the region on Monday, Hinojosa said. Mission Regional Medical Center and South Texas Health Systems are requesting three ventilators each.
An additional nurse will be deployed to Starr County and 32 staff members will be sent to Knapp Medical Center in Weslaco. Hinojosa also announced an increase in epidemiologists for the region.
