El Paso tops 600 virus deaths as record ICU & ventilator usage surges; over 1,200 added cases

EL PASO, Texas -- El Paso topped 600 coronavirus deaths on Sunday morning with the latest victims all under age 50, as health officials also reported over 1,200 added infections and yet another record number of hospitalized patients requiring ventilators.

The three deaths reported Sunday brought the pandemic fatality total to 602. Those included two men in their 30s and a woman in her 40s.

As the death tally continues to mount with more expected due to the high hospitalization rate, El Paso County announced that it would be adding a third refigerated mobile morgue to the parking lot of the Medical Examiner's Office for body storage.

"If that doesn't put our situation into perspective," said County Judge Ricardo Samaniego, "I don't know what will."

Health officials said there were 1,148 new daily infections, along with 83 delayed positive results. The combined 1,231 added cases took the total number of El Pasoans infected to date to 50,114. Right now, a record 17,496 of those infections - or more than a third of the pandemic's entire case total - are active.

Hospitalizations saw a significant jump from Saturday to Sunday, with 17 more people hospitalized for Covid-related illness for an all-time high of 943 patients. Of those, a record 271 were listed in intensive care - which is an increase of 34. And what was already a record number of patients needing ventilators grew by 19 to 162.

While officials advised that 31,761 individuals have recovered from the virus, doctors warn there can be long-term health complications for some people as a result of having been infected.

For a complete look at the El Paso health department's virus data, you can visit epstrong.org.