El Paso’s virus death toll hits 855 with 430 more deaths under review; nearly 36,000 active infections

EL PASO, Texas -- Two more deaths were added Sunday morning to El Paso's growing toll of deceased from Covid-19, a man in his 70s and a woman in her 90s, health officials said.

As the confirmed pandemic fatality count reached 855, with at least 430 other suspected Covid deaths under investigation, Texas National Guard troops arrived to provide help to El Paso County's overwhelmed morgue.

The active infection tally on Sunday of 35,963 marked yet another all-time high. Health officials added 843 new cases to that number along with 45 delayed positive results for a cumulative 81,179 cases since March. Nearly 45% of that cumulative total involves current infections.

Hospitalizations for the virus remained above a thousand as of Sunday morning, according to health department data. Of those 1,039 patients hospitalized, 308 were in intensive care with 203 needing ventilators.

Health officials advised that 43,868 individuals so far have recovered from Covid-19 - but doctors caution that despite having recovered, some of these individuals will experience long-term health impacts from having been infected.

Complete El Paso health department data on the virus can be found online at EPStrong.org.