El Paso County Commissioners form new task force to increase virus testing

EL PASO, Texas -- The discussion around creating a unified COVID-19 task force was front and center this week for El Paso County Commissioners.

The task force is starting to be put together now and is expected to field a roster of top medical and scientific representatives from around El Paso, Juarez and New Mexico.

Part of their mission statement is to help move the Borderland from a state of emergency response to a more concrete state of prepared operations.

"It brings us together," said County Judge Ricardo Samaniego. "It helps us understand from the county and city all of our partnerships and their partnerships."

During the day's discussions, Judge Samaniego even went as far as to say he is interested in having one of the commissioners join on as part of the newly forming team, recommending Commissioner Vince Perez for the position.

The task force's top objectives will be to fine tune the region's procedures of testing, contact tracing and data collection.

They will rely on new data procedures and best practices to shrink the testing gap, reporting progress and milestones to the Commissioners Court on a weekly basis.

Discussion was also raised about how many Juarez representatives there will be on the task force.

"Juarez will be very important when it comes to these conversations," said Precinct 2 Commissioner David Stout. "I know it was suggested we have a Juarez doctor but I think their inclusion needs to be even heavier than that."

One of those experts who will be helping to lead the task force is City/County Health Authority Dr. Hector Ocaranza, who will be co-chairing the group.