Gov. Abbott sends medical workers, PPE stockpiles to El Paso hospitals to help with virus surge
EL PASO, Texas -- Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday said the state of Texas was sending dozens of additional medical workers and stockpiles of personal protective equipment to El Paso hospitals in the wake of a recent surge in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations.
The 75 medical staffers being deployed to the Borderland included nurses and respiratory therapists, which are in demand.
"It is vital that Texas communities seeing an uptick in hospitalizations have the resources they need to combat Covid-19," Abbott said in a statement. "This surge in medical personnel and PPE will help support El Paso's hospitals and first-responders as we mitigate the spread of this virus."
Abbott's announcement came as El Paso County on Monday exceeded 6,000 active cases of Covid-19, the highest number of current infections during the entire pandemic, amounting to over 20% of the total cases to date. The active caseload is up by nearly 1,900 people in just over a week.
El Paso health leaders also reported record daily new cases of the virus over the weekend; 546 on Saturday and 541 Sunday. As of Monday, three of the last five days had new virus cases exceeding 500, officials indicated.
The county's hospitalization rate is on the rise too, hitting its highest level since early August. El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego has cited a 16% rate of total hospitalizations being tied to Covid-19 as his reason for not allowing bars to reopen this week, even though they are being allowed to do so in other parts of Texas.
