El Paso’s virus death streak halted, but double-digit new infection rate continues

EL PASO, Texas -- After a record-setting six straight days of coronavirus deaths, public health officials said El Paso's death toll held unchanged at 47 on Monday evening, even as new cases continued to rise by double-digits.

There were 28 additional infections reported, one of the highest new case counts reported on a Monday throughout the pandemic. Mondays have typically been when the fewest new cases are reported.

Officials believe an increase in testing may account - in part - for the increase in the positive cases, noting that virus tests given in the county had nearly doubled from 10,200 to 20,200 since May 5.

There were 77 El Pasoans hospitalized as of Monday evening, and University Medical Center - which is handling most of those patients - warned earlier in the day that is getting close to capacity.

The hospital also said it feared an increase in patients as the governor continues to reopen Texas's economy, although El Paso leaders expressed some relief that he had agreed to a brief halt in county's reopening process.

“We are pleased he agreed with us for a delay of one week," said Mayor Dee Margo, although County Judge Ricardo Sameniego had sought a longer delay.

City and county officials said they were evaluating Gov. Greg Abbott’s latest orders unveiled Monday and planned to issue a detailed directive for El Paso later in the week, which they said would emphasize health first.

“The governor has begun the reopening of Texas, and we must be thoughtful in our approach as to how we reopen our community per the state’s orders while still taking into account our community’s health,” said City/County Health Authority Dr. Hector Ocaranza.

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 (8), 79835 (54), 79836 (12), 79838 (18), 79849 (41), 79853 (27), 79901 (22), 79902 (36), 79903 (55), 79904 (55), 79905 (71), 79907 (102), 79911 (11), 79912 (123), 79915 (82), 79922 (10), 79924 (108), 79925 (78), 79927 (99), 79928 (130), 79930 (56), 79932 (67), 79934 (37), 79935 (40), 79936 (219), 79938 (239).