‘Grief-stricken’: El Paso’s virus death toll surpasses 50 as hospitalizations soar by 39%
EL PASO, Texas -- El Paso health officials reported five additional coronavirus deaths on Tuesday afternoon, as the county's death toll surpassed another somber milestone by reaching 52.
El Paso also reported 52 new virus cases on Tuesday, bringing the county’s total infections to 1,852.
“We are grief-stricken to learn of the passing of five more community members, and our hearts go out to their loved ones,” said City/County Health Authority Dr. Hector Ocaranza in announcing the deaths.
The latest deaths included three men - one each in their 50s, 60s and 70s, and two women - one in her 60s and another in her 90s.
Notably, officials said the woman in her 60s had "no underlying conditions," which was cause for concern. It was only the second known death from the virus of an El Pasoan who didn't suffer from pre-existing health issues.
Also of major cause for concern, 30 more El Pasoans were hospitalized due to the virus over the past day, jumping from 77 to 107 patients.
It marked a 39% increase in the hospitalization rate just a day after officials at University Medical Center, which is treating the bulk of the cases, warned that it was reaching bed capacity for Covid-19 patients.
The numbers of patients in intensive care units was also up by 11, a 32% increase, and those on ventilators grew by five.
The only silver lining to be found in Tuesday's report, there were 63 new recoveries occurring, which outnumbered new cases for the first time in nearly two weeks. To date, 984 people have recovered from the virus; meaning there were 816 active cases within the county on Tuesday.
Below is the latest El Paso coronavirus case locator map and other demographic information on the virus outbreak as provided by the health department.
The map shows the amount of positive cases by zip codes, with the number of cases in red dots: 79821 (8), 79835 (54), 79836 (12), 79838 (20), 79849 (42), 79853 (27), 79901 (25), 79902 (39), 79903 (56), 79904 (55), 79905 (76), 79907 (107), 79911 (11), 79912 (126), 79915 (83), 79922 (10), 79924 (114), 79925 (76), 79927 (102), 79928 (133), 79930 (56), 79932 (70), 79934 (38), 79935 (40), 79936 (228), 79938 (244).
