EL PASO, Texas — El Paso health officials reported eight more coronavirus deaths on Saturday to cap a week that saw a record 97 deceased and raised the overall pandemic fatality toll to 853. The latest deaths included a man in his 50s, two men in their 60s, two men in their 70s, a man
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EL PASO, Texas — El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego sent a letter Friday to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott seeking approval to reimpose a curfew in El Paso as the surging number of Covid-19 deaths continues to overwhelm the county’s morgue. Samaniego’s request came as the state mobilized a team of 36 Texas National Guard
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ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico — A family is mourning the death of 12-year-old Aedan Selph, who this week became the youngest New Mexican to die from coronavirus — and they have a message for others. His sister, Evelyn Wolfe, explained that her father is an essential worker and unknowingly brought the virus home. “We have medically fragile kids
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SANTA FE, New Mexico — With New Mexico hospitals facing a capacity crunch as Covid-19 infections in New Mexico surge to new highs, the state on Friday reported 2,993 new cases and 23 related deaths. In southern New Mexico, the latest deaths included a woman in her 60s from Doña Ana County and another woman in her 70s
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AUSTIN, Texas — Texas has surpassed 8,000 hospitalized coronavirus patients for the first time since a deadly summer surge, and doctors are amplifying pleas to keep Thanksgiving gatherings small. Texas reported more than 11,700 new cases Friday, once again approaching record highs. Gov. Greg Abbott has ruled out shutdowns and says cities and counties need
Continue Reading NEW YORK, NY — The coronavirus surge is taking an increasingly dire toll across the United States a week before the Thanksgiving holiday. The U.S. is now averaging more than 1,300 Covid-19 deaths per day — the highest since the calamitous spring in New York City. On Thursday, the nation hit a record of nearly
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AUSTIN, Texas — Now that a vaccine for the coronavirus is on the horizon, Gov. Greg Abbott has said the state is ready to swiftly distribute doses to combat the pandemic, which has already claimed more than 20,000 lives in Texas and dealt the economy a severe blow. But health officials say tried and true distribution
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EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — The coronavirus death now stands at 845 in El Paso County. The Department of Public Health announced 22 new virus-related deaths Friday morning. The latest fatalities included: 2 women in their 40s3 women in their 50s1 man in his 50s2 men in their 60s4 men in their 70s1 woman in
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NEW YORK, NY — Pfizer said Friday it is asking U.S. regulators to allow emergency use of its Covid-19 vaccine, starting the clock on a process that could bring limited first shots as early as next month and eventually an end to the pandemic — but not until after a long, hard winter. The action
Continue Reading EL PASO, Texas — The Texas Military Department is now standing down for “mortuary duty” and won’t be replacing jail inmates who have been used to move bodies of Covid-19 victims at the El Paso County morgue, according to Texas state Rep. and Senator-elect Cesar Blanco. Blanco told ABC-7 Thursday evening that he was informed
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EL PASO, Texas — At a Covid-19 briefing Thursday afternoon, City/County Health Authority Dr. Hector Ocaranza described a “dire situation” as he urged El Pasoans to avoid Thanksgiving gatherings that could further fuel the current surge overloading hospitals. Ocaranza said El Pasoans contracting the virus are four times more likely to end up in the
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MEXICO CITY, Mexico — A top health official says Mexico has passed the 100,000 mark in Covid-19 deaths, becoming only the fourth country – behind the United States, Brazil and India – to do so. José Luis Alomía Zegarra, Mexico’s director of epidemiology, announced Thursday evening that Mexico had 100,104 confirmed deaths. That death toll
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SANTA FE, New Mexico – Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said during a briefing Thursday that she would call a special session of the legislature next week as coronavirus cases hit a new all-time high in both New Mexico and Doña Ana County. The governor said the goal of the special session would be to provide
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EL PASO, Texas — The holiday season is here. Thanksgiving is a week away and Christmas is only a month away. As you head out for those holiday activities, do you know what your risk is for getting infected with Covid-19? Physicians with the Texas Medical Association Covid-19 Task Force put together a chart of
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LUBBOCK, Texas — Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday touted the arrival of a new antibody treatment as progress in Texas’ fight against the coronavirus, while again ruling out any new statewide business restrictions as the state experiences alarming growth in cases and hospitalizations. Bamlanivimab, a new drug therapy from the Eli Lilly and Co., is not a
Continue Reading ATLANTA, Georgia — As the pandemic surges across the country, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control issued new guidance Thursday recommending that Americans not travel home for the traditional family gathering. “Travel may increase your chance of getting and spreading COVID-19. Postponing travel and staying home is the best way to protect yourself and others
Continue Reading EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — The El Paso Department of Public Health reported 19 coronavirus-related deaths and 672 new cases Thursday. The death toll stands at 823 in El Paso County. All 19 patients had underlying health conditions, which is a broad term encompassing many varied factors. The deceased included: 1 man in his 40s5
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EL PASO, Texas — El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego offered a dire coronavirus warning Wednesday evening about what we could see in the next two months. “We’re going to hit a thousand (deaths) easily before the end of the year… I think that’s a low number,” he said. “Things are going to get bad
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LAS CRUCES, New Mexico — A Las Cruces big-box retailer, a major grocer and a popular restaurant were all ordered Wednesday to shut down for two weeks due to Covid-19 outbreaks involving employees, state officials said. The locations targeted by the closure orders were identified as the Walmart Supercenter at 3331 Rinconada Boulevard, the Albertsons
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EL PASO, Texas — U.S.-Mexico border restrictions are set to be extended until late December, the news agency Reuters reported on Wednesday evening citing officials with both governments. That means the border will remain closed to non-essential travel until Dec. 21 at 11:59 p.m. at the earliest amid a coronavirus surge in each country. Mexico’s
Continue Reading LAS CRUCES, New Mexico — Doña Ana County shattered coronavirus records for new cases and daily reported deaths amid an ongoing surge in New Mexico that saw 37% more cases Wednesday than any other day of the pandemic. Wednesday’s 438 new cases in Doña Ana County were among 2,897 more cases statewide, and surpassed by
Continue Reading NEW YORK, NY — The confirmed U.S. death toll from coronavirus now tops 250,000, the highest in world, by the Johns Hopkins University’s count as of Wednesday afternoon. Covid-19 has killed more than a quarter of a million Americans in less than 10 months, according to the data. At this rate, coronavirus is killing at
Continue Reading AUSTIN, Texas — The crush of the coronavirus surge in El Paso has the city sending its non-Covid-19 cases to hospitals elsewhere in the state, and officials say it is straining health care capacities statewide. El Paso confirmed 927 new Covid-19 cases and 22 new deaths Wednesday, and Austin Mayor Steve Adler confirmed that Austin-area hospitals
Continue Reading AUSTIN, Texas — The last time case numbers were this high was on June 26. Texas was reporting 5,102 people had been hospitalized due to the coronavirus, breaking a new record for the state. The positivity rate — the portion of tests that come back positive — had hovered above Gov. Greg Abbott’s “warning flag” level
Continue Reading NEW YORK, NY — A final analysis of the Phase 3 trial of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine shows it was 95% effective in preventing infections, even in older adults, and caused no serious safety concerns, the company said Wednesday. The company counted 170 cases of coronavirus infection among volunteers who took part in the trial. It
Continue Reading EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — El Paso surpassed 800 coronavirus deaths Wednesday morning. A grim milestone that comes a little more than eight months after the first Covid-19 case was confirmed in the county. Health officials reported 22 new coronavirus-related deaths, bringing the death toll to 804. The latest deaths included: 1 woman in her
Continue Reading WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. regulators are allowing emergency use of the first rapid coronavirus test that can be performed and developed entirely at home. The announcement by the Food and Drug Administration late Tuesday represents an important step in U.S. efforts to expand testing options for Covid-19. However, the test will require a prescription, likely
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EL PASO, Texas — After months of working through the Covid-19 pandemic, registered nurse Ashley Bartholomew decided it was time to leave. “This is the most tragic, overwhelming, craziest thing I’ve ever experienced in my life,” said Bartholomew. “Just every day is full of very sick patients, a ton of patients, just so many sick
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EL PASO, Texas — With local hospitals overflowing with Covid-19 patients, other facilities are taking these patients in to ease the strain. Kindred Hospital CEO America Jones says his long-term acute care facility takes in the sickest of the sick, some even on ventilators, with the hope of weaning them off oxygen and helping them
Continue Reading SANTA FE, New Mexico — On Tuesday, the state of New Mexico reported a record 2,112 known new cases of the coronavirus, bringing the total case count to over 67,000. Officials also reported a record-high 28 deaths in a single day, with one of those deaths being a boy between the ages of 10-12 in
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