‘Really tough, tough week’: Weekly Check-in with UMC’s Dr. Jose Burgos

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- In an effort to deliver the most comprehensive coronavirus coverage, ABC-7 has started a weekly feature where we ask Dr. Jose Burgos, the director of internal medicine at University Medical Center, the same seven questions each week to track how the pandemic is changing.

Here's the Q&A for October 15:

Mauricio Casillas (KVIA): How has this past week gone for you?

Dr. Jose Burgos (UMC’s Director of Internal Medicine): "It was a really tough, tough week."

Casillas: Can hospitals handle the current number of patients?

Burgos: "Yes, we can handle the number of patients, but we are anticipating a much larger number. We are right now deploying a plan that we pretty much drafted at the beginning of the season. We were anticipating numbers like this happening maybe like 3-4 months ago, not right now. We already have all of these plans in place where we can expand the capacity of our Covid-unit."

Casillas: What should people at home be doing right now?

Burgos: "Regardless of what activities are happening out there socially, the most important thing is we need to stay with the people that we live with. We shouldn't be seeing people that we don't see often. Right now, anybody could be infected."

Casillas: What is the most eye-opening thing you’ve seen this week?

Burgos: "The number of patients in hospitals. Not only at UMC but every other hospital in town is filled with Covid positive patients."

Casillas: What is your prediction for next week?

Burgos: "We're going to get busier. This is the result of weeks of unnecessary exposure on a lot of people in the community."

Casillas: What is giving you hope at this time?

Burgos: "It's tough to talk about hope when we're seeing what's going on. What is keeping me hopeful is the fact that a lot of hard working men and women, not just physicians -- but nurses, techs, environmental services people, they are really working super hard to take care of patients. To make sure that whoever is ready to go home, goes home quickly and safely.

Casillas: What is your message to the Borderland?

Burgos: "I see a lot comments on, 'You guys are fear-mongering, you guys are exaggerating. Magically, Covid is going to resolve itself when elections are over.' Well, let me tell you something. There are no elections in China. There are no elections in Spain. There are no elections in Italy. There are no elections in Mexico. When we finish our election process, Covid is not going to disappear. This is not a political thing. I really want to emphasize that."

Statistics for October 15:

• 30,624 total cases, 6,887 active cases, 554 deaths in El Paso County

Here's a list of earlier segments:

• April 9 Q&A: (225 cases , 1 death)
• April 16 Q&A: (451 cases, 7 deaths)
• April 23 Q&A: (675 total cases, 543 active cases, 10 deaths)
• April 30 Q&A: (924 total cases, 506 active cases, 21 deaths)
• May 7 Q&A: (1,190 total cases, 541 active cases, 30 deaths)
• May 14 Q&A: (1,607 total cases, 771 active cases, 43 deaths)
• May 21 Q&A: (2,046 total cases, 883 active cases, 57 deaths)
• May 28 Q&A: (2,569 total cases, 1,032 active cases, 72 deaths)
• June 4 Q&A: (3,069 total cases, 1,059 active cases, 89 deaths)
• June 11 Q&A: (3,650 total cases, 1,015 active cases, 97 deaths)
• June 18 Q&A: (4,088 total cases, 946 active cases, 119 deaths)
• June 25 Q&A: (4,984 total cases, 1394 active cases, 125 deaths)
• July 2 Q&A: (6,389 total cases, 2,223 active cases, 132 deaths)
• July 9 Q&A: (8,385 total cases, 3,085 active cases, 145 deaths)
• July 16 Q&A: (10,638 total cases, 3,708 active cases, 173 deaths)
• July 23 Q&A: (12,501 total cases, 3,564 active cases, 211 deaths)
• July 31 Q&A: (14,276 total cases, 3,311 active cases, 266 deaths)
• August 6: (15,596 total cases, 3,747 active cases, 285 deaths)
• August 13 Q&A: (17,378 total cases, 4,166 active cases, 330 deaths)
• August 20 Q&A: (19,057 total cases, 4200 active cases, 382 deaths)
• August 27 Q&A: (19,925 total cases, 3,102 active cases, 410 deaths)
• September 3 Q&A: (20,686 total cases, 2,822 active cases, 429 deaths)
• September 10 Q&A: (21,335 total cases, 2,724 active cases, 452 deaths)
• September 17 Q&A: (22,078 total cases, 2,801 active cases, 479 deaths)
• September 24 Q&A: (23,207 total cases, 3,300 active cases, 508 deaths)
• October 1 Q&A: (24,666 total cases, 3,812 active cases, 524 deaths)
• October 8 Q&A: (26,969 total cases, 4,929 active cases, 541 deaths)