Breaking News! Maverick County Blasts Past 1,000 Positive COVID-19 Cases with 122 New Cases on July 16, Bringing Total to 1,061 Cases, 13 Deaths, and 61 Hospitalized People
By: Ricardo E. Calderon, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2020
Maverick County Judge David R. Saucedo and Eagle Pass Mayor Luis E. Sifuentes announced on Thursday, July 16, 2020 at a press conference that 122 new confirmed positive COVID-19 cases in Maverick County, Texas were reported by the Texas Department of State Health Services, setting a new single day high record of COVID-19 cases and bringing the total number to 1,061 cases, 13 deaths, and 61 hospitalized people in the U.S.-Mexico border county on the banks of the Rio Grande.
The record setting number of positive COVID-19 cases in Maverick County during the past month has overwhelmed the health care services of the only hospital in the county, Fort Duncan Regional Medical Center, reaching its threshold capacity of 80 percent on Tuesday, July 14, 2020, notifying County Judge Saucedo and Mayor Sifuentes that they needed to seek alternative health care services from the state and federal government to assist handling the surge of COVID-19 cases infecting the community.
“The hospital is really overwhelmed right now,” said Mayor Sifuentes. The main issue at the Fort Duncan Regional Medical Center is the health care personnel who are understaffed and needing to work harder and longer hours than before the COVID-19 pandemic, opined Mayor Sifuentes. Mayor Sifuentes noted the personnel at the local hospital look tired and exhausted by the work demand placed upon them by the surging number of COVID-19 patients in the community. Sifuentes noted, however, that the hospital personnel are working diligently and passionately to assist the citizens of Maverick County infected with the deadly COVID-19 virus.
County Judge Saucedo highlighted that there are 61 hospitalized people at the sole hospital as of July 16 with 11 patients in the Intensive Care Unit and all of them are on ventilators, another 32 patients are on the Medical Floor with 28 positive for COVID-19 and four awaiting test results, and another 18 patients in the Emergency Room with eight positive and 10 awaiting test results. Earlier this week, the hospital had one positive patient in the Post-Partum Delivery Department.
Saucedo noted that the Eagle Pass and Maverick County Emergency Operations Center representatives, Local Health Authority Dr. Victoriano Valdez, Mayor Sifuentes, and him are now meeting daily with the Fort Duncan Regional Medical Center representatives to monitor the COVID-19 pandemic and the availability of hospital beds and personnel to handle the raging surge of COVID-19 cases.
Sifuentes stated that the local hospital still has space to convert a third floor primarily used as a rehabilitation center into an all COVID-19 floor, but lacks the health care personnel to staff the new beds for COVID-19 patients. Both the City and the County have requested the State of Texas Emergency Management Committee and Congressman Will Hurd to assist them obtain a field hospital together with the medical equipment and health care personnel to operate and manage it. They are still awaiting a reply from both the state and federal governments on the field hospital and personnel.
Maverick County did receive a team of five nurses from the state who worked about a week at the local hospital before leaving on Monday, July 13, while a new team of 12 military medics arrived the same day and are busy helping the hospital treat the rising number of COVID-19 patients.
Saucedo reported that a total of 8,784 people in Maverick County have had the COVID-19 test administered with 1,061 positive results, 7,232 negative results, 491 waiting for test results, 570 active cases, 478 recovered people, 61 hospitalized people, 13 deaths related to COVID-19, and the positivity rate is at 12.8 percent as of July 16.
Maverick County like the rest of the state of Texas is waiting for Governor Greg Abbott’s announcement on Friday, July 17, 2020, concerning what the state is going to do with the uncontrollable COVID-19 surge afflicting the entire state and how it will affect the reopening of public and private schools, the economy, and the overall public health of over 28 million Texans.
Texas reported 10,291 new positive COVID-19 cases, 129 deaths, 768 new hospitalized patients on July 16, 2020, bringing the total to 292,656 positive cases, 3,561 deaths, and 10,457 hospitalized patients. Governor Abbott has been heavily criticized for reopening the state too early before flattening out the curve of the coronavirus, banning local officials from requiring masks, and not providing sufficient testing and contact tracing, causing a surge of cases since the Memorial Day Holiday in late May to today.
