El Paso reaches 1,200 confirmed virus deaths, while new cases decline for 5th week in row
EL PASO, Texas -- With 13 newly confirmed coronavirus deaths added to the official death toll on Sunday morning, El Paso County has now reached 1,200 fatalities to date during the pandemic.
The latest victims ranged in aged from their 40s to 90s and included:
- 1 woman in her 40s
- 4 men in their 50s
- 1 man in his 60s
- 1 woman in her 60s
- 4 men in their 70s
- 1 man in his 80s
- 1 man in his 90s
Bob Moore of El Paso Matters, who closely tracks Covid-19 data, found that El Paso averaged about one Covid-19 death every 72 minutes over the past week.
The death toll is expected to rise further in the coming days as 563 suspected Covid-19 deaths are currently listed as under investigation by health officials.
Also on Sunday, health officials reported 219 new virus cases, with the number of active infections now standing at 37,410. The rolling 7-day positivity rate average stood at 9.39%.
Moore said the number of newly reported virus cases has now been on the decline for five straight weeks, although he adds that the rate of decline is now slowing.
"The continuing decline is especially heartening because it suggests that El Pasoans heeded health-care advice and largely avoided multi-household gatherings over Thanksgiving," Moore explained. "We have not yet seen a post-holiday surge in cases, as was the case earlier in the pandemic."
The declines also continued on the hospitalization front, with 607 virus patients in local hospitals on Sunday; 234 of those patients were listed in intensive care and 158 needed ventilators.
Complete El Paso health department virus data can be found by clicking here.
