‘We’re seeing more young people coming in’: Weekly check-in with UMC’s Dr. Jose Burgos

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- In an effort to deliver the most comprehensive coronavirus coverage, ABC-7 has started a weekly feature where we ask Dr. Jose Burgos, the director of internal medicine at University Medical Center, the same seven questions each week to track how the pandemic is changing.

Here's the Q&A for Thursday, July 2:

Mauricio Casillas (KVIA): How has this past week gone for you?

Dr. Jose Burgos (UMC's Internal Medicine Director): "Well we had an extremely busy week. Not only at UMC but all over town. We're afraid that we're still not seeing the peak of that activity."

Casillas: Can hospitals handle the current number of patients?

Burgos: "If we compare the numbers of hospital admissions in the past two weeks, pretty much we've doubled. We have double the patients that we had a few weeks ago. This is not our maximum capacity, fortunately."

Casillas: What should people at home be doing right now?

Burgos: "A mask is nowadays, and probably will be for quite awhile, a part of your wardrobe. If you step out of your house, you have to carry a mask. It is a symbol of self-respect and respect for other people."

Casillas: What is the most eye-opening thing you’ve seen this week?

Burgos: "We're seeing more young people coming into the hospital. People in their early 20s, mid-20s, they are being hospitalized. It's not a casual admission of one day or two days. Some of them have been here for 10 or 15 days. They can get really sick just like anybody else."

Casillas: What is your prediction for next week?

Burgos: "We will have one or two more weeks that we're going to be busy or busier. It's up to our behavior right now as a community to really control this situation."

Casillas: What is giving you hope at this time?

Burgos: "We had a high number of admissions a few weeks ago, we decreased this number, so we can do this again."

Casillas: What is your message to the Borderland?

Burgos: "This is not a time where we need to play political cards. That doesn't really make sense when we're talking about public health. This is a time where we have to step up as individuals and protect ourselves and our families."

Statistics for July 2:

• 6,389 total cases, 2,223 active cases, 132 deaths in El Paso County

Here's a list of earlier segments:

• April 9 Q&A: (225 cases , 1 death)
• April 16 Q&A: (451 cases, 7 deaths)
• April 23 Q&A: (675 total cases, 543 active cases, 10 deaths)
• April 30 Q&A: (924 total cases, 506 active cases, 21 deaths)
• May 7 Q&A: (1,190 total cases, 541 active cases, 30 deaths)
• May 14 Q&A: (1,607 total cases, 771 active cases, 43 deaths)
• May 21 Q&A: (2,046 total cases, 883 active cases, 57 deaths)
• May 28 Q&A: (2,569 total cases, 1,032 active cases, 72 deaths)
• June 4 Q&A: (3,069 total cases, 1,059 active cases, 89 deaths)
• June 11 Q&A: (3,650 total cases, 1,015 active cases, 97 deaths)
• June 18 Q&A: (4,088 total cases, 946 active cases, 119 deaths)
• June 25 Q&A: 4,984 total cases, 1394 active cases, 125 deaths)