El Paso scales back reporting on Covid deaths, cases citing ‘data stabilization’

EL PASO, Texas -- El Paso public health officials announced Saturday that they would begin scaling back on the reporting of Covid-19 deaths and infections in the community.

Instead of daily updates, as has been done throughout the pandemic, officials said they would transition to a once-weekly accounting of fatalities and cases.

A spokesperson for the El Paso health department cited a "stabilization of the data" as the reason for the change as the levels of both newly-reported deaths and added cases have declined amid vaccination efforts.

She indicated El Paso City Council had been informed of the reduction, which will result in a weekly reporting of top-level virus data every Monday, encompassing the prior Sunday through Saturday.

In what was the final daily update issued Saturday, health leaders reported one new death involving a man in his 80s, to raise El Paso County's pandemic fatality count to 2,642.

There were also 30 new cases disclosed Saturday as the total number of active infections among El Pasoans stood at 280.

Complete El Paso health department data on the virus is available online at EPstrong.org; officials said they anticipate continuing to update that database on a daily basis.