El Paso sees 5 new virus deaths; active cases just above 35k, 20% are kids

EL PASO, Texas -- El Paso health officials reported five new Covid-19 deaths and 481 additional cases on Saturday morning, for a cumulative total of 109,589 cases and 1,641 deaths.

The latest deaths included a man and woman in their 50s, a man in his 60s, a man in his 70s, and a man in his 80s. All five had underlying health conditions, officials indicated.

As of Saturday, the number of active infections stood at 35,080.

Infections in El Paso have been rising since after the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, but remain below the fall surge according to an El Paso Matters analysis of El Paso Department of Public Health data.

So far in the month of January, the El Paso Matters analysis also shows people 19 and younger comprise almost 20% of new infections, which is more than 3 points higher than their proportion of cases in 2020. The rise in cases among children comes at a time when some schools have returned to in-person learning.

Officials said 72,306 El Pasoans have recovered from the virus to date, however doctors note that some people who have been infected may experience long-term health impacts despite recovery.

Complete El Paso health department virus data can be found online at EPStrong.org.

(El Paso Matters contributed to this report.)