El Paso officially surpasses grim milestone of 1,000 virus deaths

EL PASO, Texas -- El Paso County officially topped the grim milestone of over 1,000 deaths from Covid-19 on Sunday morning.

Health officials confirmed 11 added fatalities from the virus to take the official pandemic death toll to 1,010.

El Paso's actual death count from Covid-19 is thought to be much higher as 612 suspected Covid-19 deaths going back weeks, and in some cases months, are currently under investigation and are not part of the death totals. Most suspected deaths investigated to date have later ended up being confirmed as Covid fatalities.

The latest victims added to the official death count on Sunday ranged in age from their 50s to 80s and included:

• 1 man in his 50s
• 3 men in their 60s
• 2 women in their 60s
• 1 man in his 70s
• 1 woman in her 70s
• 3 women in their 80s

Health leaders also reported 217 new virus infections on Sunday, with the total number of active infections in the county now standing at 37,811.

Bob Moore of El Paso Matters has noted an emerging downward trend in new cases, which could be an encouraging sign.

"The number of new Covid-19 cases declined for a fourth consecutive week and is now down three-fourths from our peak the first week of November," he observed, adding however that the impact of the Thanksgiving period on infections likely won't be known for another week.

The pressure on hospitals has also eased a bit. As of Sunday morning, the hospital patient count due to the virus dropped by more than 60 down to 730 - with 281 of those patients listed in intensive care and 202 requiring the use of ventilators.

To date, 50,304 El Pasoans have recovered from Covid-19 infections. Those recovered represent 56% of the total of 89,762 cases occurring throughout the pandemic. But doctors caution that some recovered patients can still experience ongoing health issues stemming from having been infected.

Complete health department data on the virus can be found at EPstrong.org.

El Paso’s official Covid-19 death toll surpasses 1,000 but number of deaths under investigation shows how much worse it really is:

• 11 new deaths (1,010 total)
• 612 deaths under investigation
• 217 new cases (37,811 active)
• 730 hospitalized (-64)https://t.co/1N959Edl7N pic.twitter.com/XdGTfq8HWv

— Erik Elken KVIA ABC-7 (@ErikElkenKVIA) December 6, 2020