3 more El Paso Covid-19 deaths as pandemic infections near 100,000

EL PASO, Texas -- The El Paso Department of Public Health announced three additional Covid-19 deaths along with 345 added cases on Sunday morning, as the county approached the 100,000 residents infected milestone — a pandemic mark which could be reached in the next day or so.

The latest deaths involved three men — one each in his 50s, 60s and 90s — and raised the deceased total to 1,476. While confirmed as of Sunday, officials said those three fatalities actually occurred over November and December — with those past two months accounting for about half of the pandemic's entire death toll.

In addition, there remained 544 deaths under investigation that are suspected of being the result of Covid-19 — so the official death toll is expected to grow to around 2,000 in the days to follow as most suspected Covid deaths end up later being confirmed.

"That means that one of every 420 El Paso County residents alive at the beginning of 2020 perished during the year because of Covid-19," observed El Paso Matters CEO Bob Moore.

The number of active infections rose to 34,684 on Sunday, with health leaders saying that 15% of those cases involved people who are asymptomatic — in other words, showing no sign of being infected but can still spread the virus to others.

"The number of new reported Covid-19 infections in El Paso jumped by 41% over the past week, the first increase in 8 weeks," Moore noted in his weekly coronavirus analysis. "It's a worrisome sign as health officials brace for a possible surge of cases from holiday gatherings."

Hospitalizations due to the virus dropped slightly again on Sunday to 385, with 145 of those patients currently listed in intensive care and 114 requiring the use of ventilators.

Mayor Dee Margo has indicated the level of hospitalizations this weekend due to Covid is nearly 18.5% in the El Paso area; a 15% rate is the benchmark set under state virus orders for further reopening of the economy.

That said, El Paso has been bucking the hospitalization trend overall throughout Texas, which has seen record-setting patient numbers for nearly a week. As of Saturday night, there were over 12,000 virus patients hospitalized and only about 600 intensive-care beds available across the state of nearly 29 million people.

But El Paso City/County Health Authority, Dr. Hector Ocaranza cautioned residents against letting their guard down, signaling the potential for local hospitalizations to go back up following the Christmas and New Year's holiday weekends.

“We have seen a downward trend in hospitalizations and active cases; however, the virus continues to be very active in our community, particularly during the recent holiday season so we cannot become complacent,” said Ocaranza.

Cumulative virus cases during the pandemic total 99,672 — or roughly 12% of El Paso's population, with officials listing 62,936 El Pasoans as having recovered. However, doctors caution that some recovered persons may still suffer long-term health impacts from having been impacted.

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