El Paso health officials expect a Covid-19 spike after the start of 2022
EL PASO, Texas — El Paso health officials said they expect coronavirus cases and hospitalizations to increase after the holidays with the possibility of the first Omicron variant case very likely to enter El Paso.
Public health authority Dr. Hector Ocaranza and public health director Angela Mora spoke to the media Wednesday afternoon to address the concerns of a covid spike during the busy holiday travel season. Dr. Ocaranza said the number of people traveling around the country and into El Paso will increase the active covid cases, and that it will affect El Paso hospitals.
“We don’t have an abundance of resources so there is a good chance if we have a large spike in the hospitalizations that the hospitals are going to be having to have a challenge with increased amount of patients,” Dr. Ocaranza explained.
Both Mora and Dr. Ocaranza are stressing people to get tested after their trip if they decide to go and see family for Christmas. They also stress vaccinations and say El Paso's infusion center has enough monoclonal antibody treatments right now.
The nation is experiencing a shortage of those treatments, especially the treatment called sotrovimab. It is the most effective treatment against the Omicron variant that is spreading rapidly through the nation. There are no known cases of the Omicron in El Paso as of today.
The Texas health department says they have recently shipped sotrovimab treatments to El Paso.
The county judge, Ricardo Samaniego, said he is also preparing the morgue for any increased deaths that many come with the higher hospitalizations. Currently, there are 300 open spaces in the morgue and the county is ready to offer another 300 spaces with a mobile morgue.
The judge also said funeral homes are managing ok. One of the funeral homes has added an extra storage unit and has a second storage unit on standby.
Dr. Ocaranza was asked if he would implement any restrictions if the numbers got out of hand, and he said he would not. He is instead stressing mask-wearing and vaccinations.
