El Paso sees 1 new virus death as new cases on decline, but delayed results pile up for nearly a month

EL PASO, Texas -- El Paso County's coronavirus death toll reached 462 on Saturday morning with one additional death reported, a man in his 80s with underlying conditions.

Meantime, public health officials announced dozens of new virus cases along with yet more weeks-old "delayed" positive test results that were equivalent to 25% of the daily tally.

There were 80 new cases and 21 "delayed" cases reported, bringing the total number of infections during the pandemic to 21,559.

The cumulative tally of new cases for the week ending Saturday was 508, reflecting a downward trend that marked the lowest number of new weekly cases since mid-June.

However, there have now been daily reports of "delayed" cases from the state for nearly a month now - with those old cases well in excess of 1,000, which complicates efforts to understand trends as the data from past weeks is routinely being adjusted to reflect these previously unknown infections.

The "delayed" positive results are tied to state-contracted labs that conducted Covid-19 testing at sites around El Paso on the city's behalf. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott last month expressed confidence that the backlog was under control and an end to delayed case reporting was near, but that end has yet to occur.

As of Saturday, health officials advised there were 2,766 active virus cases, and 18,211 recoveries. As ABC-7 has previously reported, however, doctors say some recovered persons may still experience long term health consequences as a result of having been infected.

There were 115 patients being treated at El Paso hospitals on Saturday for virus-related illness, with 48 of those remaining in intensive care units and half of that number (24) requiring the use ventilators - which also marks a low since mid-June.

For a complete look at the El Paso Department of Public Health's Covid-19 data, click here.