Death from virus reported for 5th straight day in El Paso, setting pandemic milestone
EL PASO, Texas -- The El Paso Department of Public Health reported one new coronavirus death on Saturday night, bringing the county's death toll to 46 as the number of infections surpassed 1,700.
It marked the fifth-straight day of virus deaths being reported by health leaders, which is the longest streak of the pandemic.
The latest fatality was a man in his 40s, officials indicated, making him one of the youngest victims in the county to die from Covid-19. The man was one of only three El Pasoans that young who have died to date.
No one below age 40 has succumbed to the virus and the bulk of local deaths have come from those in their 60s and 70s. It contrasts, however, to the virus infection rates - which so far have numbered highest among those in their 20s and 30s, according to health department data.
El Paso continued to see significant double-digit growth in new cases for yet another day Saturday. There were 71 additional infections reported, bringing the county’s total number of confirmed cases to 1,726.
The hospitalization rate remained largely the same as it had for much of the week. On Saturday night, there were 78 people hospitalized due to the virus with a little more than half of those patients, 41, in intensive care and 17 on ventilators.
Health officials on Saturday night also pointed out that only El Pasoans are included in the county's official death and caseload counts.
"Not counted in El Paso’s cases are 44 positive cases of individuals from other communities outside of the county, who have been tested and/or treated in El Paso," said a statement from the El Paso health department.
That statement went on to note that "of those numbers 25 are residents of Chihuahua, Mexico; 17 are New Mexico residents; and two are Texas residents who are not El Paso County residents. Of the 44 cases, two males from Chihuahua (one in his 50s and another in his 80s) passed away."
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 (7), 79835 (53), 79836 (12), 79838 (18), 79849 (38), 79853 (27), 79901 (21), 79902 (36), 79903 (54), 79904 (52), 79905 (69), 79907 (94), 79911 (11), 79912 (118), 79915 (77), 79922 (10), 79924 (102), 79925 (74), 79927 (97), 79928 (127), 79930 (55), 79932 (63), 79934 (37), 79935 (36), 79936 (205), 79938 (223).
