Five Maverick County Citizens Fall to COVID-19 and 68 New Positive Cases Reported During Weekend of July 24-27, 2020, Bringing Total to 31 Deaths and 1,622 Cases
By: Ricardo E. Calderon, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2020
One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Maverick County citizens mourn the loss of five dearly beloved brethren who lost their battle against the deadly novel coronavirus and 68 new confirmed positive COVID-19 cases were reported during the weekend of July 24-27, 2020, bringing the total to 31 deaths due to COVID-19 and 1,622 positive cases in Maverick County.
Maverick County Judge David R. Saucedo announced the tragic deaths of these five local citizens and expressed his condolences to the families of each one at a press conference held on Monday, July 27, 2020.
Saucedo stated a total of 10,304 people in Maverick County have been administered a COVID-19 test with 1,622 positive results, 8,068 negative results, 614 waiting for test results, 798 active cases, 793 recovered, 40 hospitalized, 31 deaths, and the positivity rate increased to 16.7 percent.
Saucedo noted that of the 40 hospitalized patients at Fort Duncan Regional Medical Center, there are 11 positive in the Intensive Care Unit, another 20 in the Medical Floor with 19 positive and one pending test results, and nine at the Emergency Room with two positive and seven pending test results. Eight patients are on ventilators.
Saucedo added that some Maverick County COVID-19 patients have now been transferred to San Antonio hospitals through the intervention of Governor Greg Abbott to relieve the capacity at the local hospital. Previously, San Antonio hospitals were not accepting transfer patients from South Texas due to a surge of COVID-19 cases in Bexar County.
Eagle Pass Mayor Luis E. Sifuentes stated the average age of the five deceased patients was 63 years old and the overall median age of the 31 deceased COVID-19 patients in Maverick County is 69 to 70 years old. Sifuentes added that there have been patients in their 40s who have passed away and patients with underlying medical conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and others have been more susceptible to the COVID-19.
Sifuentes also noted a problem encountered by investigators from the Emergency Operations Center are that some local citizens who have home health providers are failing to advise their providers if they have any symptoms of COVID-19 or have tested positive for the virus, causing some home health providers to become infected with COVID-19 or them infecting other home health patients of theirs. Sifuentes admonished local home health patients to advise their providers if they have any symptoms or have tested positive for COVID-19 to avoid further spread in the community.
Saucedo stated “we are so overwhelmed at the local, state, and national levels [with COVID-19].” Saucedo noted that due to the large number of positive cases in Maverick County, the Emergency Operations Center fell behind in contact tracing and have had to hire additional employees to assist with the contact tracing in the community. Saucedo added the City of Eagle Pass was bringing in 12 employees to the Emergency Operations Center on July 28, 2020.
Both Saucedo and Sifuentes advised all Maverick County residents to follow the CDC Guidelines such as wearing a face mask, practice social distancing of six feet or more, wash hands with soap regularly, use hand sanitizer regularly, avoid gatherings of 10 or more, limit travel to essential matters, and stay home to slow or stop the community spread of COVID-19.
