EL PASO, Texas — A Texas appeals court is set to review a lower court ruling that upheld an order from El Paso County’s top elected official shutting down businesses while the region fights an alarming surge in Covid-19 cases. The Eighth District Court of Appeals said it would decide on Thursday whether to grant
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LAS CRUCES, New Mexico — Two New Mexico State University engineering educators are developing reusable innovative technology that they say will increase the effectiveness of face coverings. “The average person will have access to the technology if they like,” said Antonio García, the associate dean of academics in NMSU’s chemical engineering department. “But the most
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SANTA FE, New Mexico — New Mexico reported another 1,418 confirmed coronavirus infections Monday, smashing the previous record of 1,287 that was set Friday and Saturday. Hospitalizations and deaths also remain high. Four fatalities in Doña Ana County were among the state’s 12 additional deaths reported Monday. They included two women in their 70s, a
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LAS CRUCES, New Mexico — In less than two weeks, Maritza Serna’s world was turned upside down. “I’m still kind of really in shock,” Serna told ABC-7. “I feel like I’m in a nightmare.” On Oct. 15, her stepfather, Jose Manquera, was hospitalized for Covid-19. After being discharged, the 69-year-old was admitted to the intensive
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UPDATE, Nov. 9: The Catholic Diocese of El Paso on Monday said it was extending the closure of church parishes in El Paso County until further notice. All the “suspended status” restrictions first outlined late last month will remain in effect, the diocese indicated. (See original report below for the list of those restrictions.) “By
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ALAMOGORDO, New Mexico — Several City of Alamogordo employees have tested positive for Covid-19 over the past several days, officials indicated Monday, prompting a deep cleaning of City Hall. While the building will remain open to the public with masks and social distancing required, officials said “many departments will be teleworking and only available via
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UPDATE, Nov. 9: There were at least a half-dozen employees reported infected with Covid-19 at Stampede Meat over a four-day period, which prompted state regulators to order the plant’s closure for two weeks. That’s according to a letter from a New Mexico official to Stampede’s management outlining the shutdown order last week. A copy of
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BALTIMORE, Maryland — The United States passed the sobering total of 10 million coronavirus infections on Monday, according to Johns Hopkins University’s tally. There have been at least 10,018,278 cases of Covid-19 in the U.S. and more than 237,000 has died from the virus. So far Monday, Johns Hopkins had reported 50,123 new cases and 172 added deaths. The totals include
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WILMINGTON, Delaware — President-elect Joe Biden is warning the United States is “still facing a very dark winter” as he unveiled plans for addressing Covid-19 pandemic. Even as hopes of a vaccine lifted stocks, Biden said Monday another 200,000 lives could be lost before it is widely available. Biden implored Americans to “wear a mask” to
Continue Reading NEW YORK, NY — Drugmaker Pfizer said Monday an early look at data from its coronavirus vaccine shows it is more than 90% effective — a much better than expected efficacy if the trend continues. The so-called interim analysis looked at the first 94 confirmed cases of Covid-19 among the more than 43,000 volunteers who
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EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — The El Paso Department of Public Health reported seven new coronavirus-related deaths and 899 new cases Monday. The death toll now stands at 673 in El Paso County. The latest victims were identified as: 2 women in their 70s1 man in his 70s3 women in their 80s1 man in his
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SANTA FE, New Mexico — For the third consecutive day, New Mexico health officials reported nearly 1,300 additional Covid-19 cases on Sunday, including 146 in Doña Ana County. State leaders also reported 14 additional deaths, including a woman in her 90s who was a resident of The Adobe Assisted Living facility in Las Cruces. State Department of Health
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EL PASO,Texas — Health officials reported over 2,000 added coronavirus cases and five deaths on Sunday in El Paso County. The death toll rose to 666, with the latest victims being a man in his 50s, another man in his 60s, a woman in her 80s, and a man and a woman in their 90s.
Continue Reading SANTA FE, New Mexico — New Mexico on Saturday for the second day in a row reported nearly 1,300 additional Covid-19 cases and 16 additional deaths, including a 70-year-old man who was a resident of the Casa de Oro Center in Las Cruces. Officials said there are 1,287 additional cases, a one-day record that was the same number
Continue Reading EL PASO, Texas — El Paso surpassed 60,000 total coronavirus cases on Saturday morning, with more than 40% of those infections currently active, while hospitalization rates set another record and the death toll continued to mount. Health officials said there were 1,020 new cases and 232 delayed positives, for a tally of 1,252 additional cases. The
Continue Reading EL PASO, Texas — A state court has refused to halt El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego’s recently mandated two-week shutdown of nonessential activities and businesses due to Covid-19 and the El Paso Police Department will now enforce it. 34th District Court Judge William Moody upheld the validity of the order, which for now remains
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WASHINGTON, DC — President Donald Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows has coronavirus, two senior officials confirmed Friday night, adding to the outbreaks connected to the White House as the nation sets daily records for confirmed cases for the pandemic. It wasn’t immediately clear whether he had developed symptoms of Covid-19, and officials offered no
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SANTA FE, New Mexico — New Mexico health officials are reporting new highs for the Covid-19 daily case count statewide and in Doña Ana County as the state struggles with an ongoing surge. Cases across the state reported Friday totaled 1,287, bringing the statewide tally to nearly 52,400 infections since the start of the pandemic. Another six
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SANTA FE, New Mexico — New Mexico state officials have the power to impose civil penalties when enforcing public health orders that call for businesses to restrict their operations amid a public health emergency, the state Supreme Court said Friday. The unanimous written opinion details the legal reasoning for an oral decision made by the court in
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EL PASO, Texas — The U.S. Department of Defense is deploying 60 medical personnel from the U.S. Air Force to El Paso facilities as hospitalizations rose to record levels yet again due to a huge ongoing spike in coronavirus infections. First word of the deployment came Friday morning from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. Officials said
Continue Reading EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — The death toll in El Paso County now stands at 657 after the health department reported 18 new coronavirus-related deaths Friday morning. It marks the second day in a row that El Paso has seen a double-digit increase in deaths. The health department identified the latest victims as: 1 man
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SANTA FE, New Mexico — As New Mexico’s confirmed coronavirus cases topped 51,110, with 862 new infections reported on Thursday, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham proclaimed “the data is not good.” “We are not trending anywhere in the right direction,” she said. New Mexico virus deaths set a daily record Thursday when they increased by 23, with two
Continue Reading EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — City leaders urged El Pasoans to stay home whenever possible amidst a worsening public health crisis due to the growing spread of Covid-19. Mayor Dee Margo at a news conference Thursday afternoon cited “significant spread coming from family and non-family gatherings in homes and other locations.” The push against gatherings
Continue Reading WASHINGTON, DC — For the second day in a row, the United States has surpassed 100,000 new coronavirus infections, breaking previous records of cases reported in a single day. It’s a reality that seemed far away a few weeks ago, when health experts predicted the nation would eventually reach those levels of infection. Now those
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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. This week, Dr. Burgos was unavailable.
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EL PASO, Texas — Four El Paso bars and restaurants had their liquor licenses suspended by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission last week for violating Covid-19 health orders. The actions were part of an enforcement surge by TABC as Covid-19 cases exploded and health officials blamed violations of health orders in bars and restaurants as
Continue Reading EL PASO, Texas — The state’s 34th District Court indicated it planned to rule by Friday morning on a request by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and several El Paso restaurant owners seeking a temporrary injunction to block a county order shutting down all non-essential activities and businesses. The court heard oral arguments on the
Continue Reading SANTA FE, New Mexico — Confirmed Covid-19 cases topped 50,250 in New Mexico on Wednesday with the reporting of an additional 1,022 cases. There were 197 of those new cases in Doña Ana County, for a pandemic infection total of 7,492. State health officials also reported another 14 confirmed deaths, bringing that statewide tally to
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CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico — A record surge in Covid-19 cases has pushed Ciudad Juárez General Hospital to the brink, officials said Wednesday as they announced stricter measures aimed at stemming the virus infection spike. The General Hospital has reached 100% capacity and there is now a wait list of two weeks, government leaders said. The
Continue Reading EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — The El Paso Health Department reported 3,100 new cases in the county on Wednesday morning, shattering a previous daily record by more than 1,000 cases. The health department’s Covid-19 dashboard also shows a massive increase in active cases. That number now stands at 21,902, also an all-time high, with a
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