No new El Paso virus deaths for 2nd day, but vaccinations on decline

EL PASO, Texas -- For a second straight day, El Paso public health officials reported no new Covid-19 deaths on Sunday. The weekend fatality reprieve kept the county's pandemic death total at 2,539.

There were 78 additional virus cases reported Sunday, with officials indicating that there's currently 2,270 active infections among El Pasoans. In addition, officials said there were 145 hospitalizations due to the virus on Sunday, with 52 patients listed in intensive care and 30 requiring the use of ventilators.

"New Covid-19 infections and hospitalizations in El Paso dropped last week to levels we haven't seen since September. But the number of people getting first vaccines is (also) plunging," observed El Paso Matters CEO Bob Moore in his weekly analysis of Covid-19 trends in the Borderland.

Moore wrote Sunday that the the decline in vaccinations is "a signal of the challenges that still lie ahead in fighting Covid-19." He noted that as a result of that decline, "the number of vaccine first doses being sent by the state to El Paso County this week also will be down dramatically."

About 63% of eligible El Pasoans have received at least one vaccine dose, and 42% are considered fully vaccinated.

For a complete look at the El Paso health department's coronavirus data, visit EPStrong.org.