No new El Paso virus deaths, cases continue double-digit increases

EL PASO, Texas -- No new coronavirus deaths were reported Sunday in El Paso, following a week that saw 20 deaths in the county. But double-digit case increases continued.

While the death toll stayed at 78, health officials did report 60 additional virus infections, for a total of 2,764 confirmed cases. Of those 1,068 were considered active, while 1,618 El Pasoans were said to have recovered.

Officials have maintained increased testing capability is contributing, in part, to the rise in the county's caseload. Another contributing factor appears to be the growth of an outbreak at the Rogelio Sanchez State Jail, which has seen new infections spike in recent days to a total now of 245.

As of Sunday morning, 103 El Pasoans were hospitalized - marking a very noticeable decline in recent days. Of those patients in hospitals due to the virus, over half (54) were listed in intensive care; ICU usage is also on the decline.

Just under a third (31) of patients Sunday were on ventilators, which is the one key figure not on a corresponding decline with the hospitalization and ICU counts. Instead, the ventilator usage rate has increased over the past week.

El Paso County had surpassed Bexar County on Saturday in both numbers of total cases and deaths. Bexar, which is the San Antonio metro area, has a population more than double that of El Paso.

On Sunday, Bexar saw significantly more new infections (189) to give it more total cases at 2,825, but it remained behind El Paso in deaths at 73.

To further examine the latest case and fatality data, you'll find El Paso's current virus information here and San Antonio's details here.