Maverick County Surge Continues with 36 Confirmed Positive COVID-19 Cases and Increased Number of Hospitalized People, Totaling 677 Positive Cases
By: Ricardo E. Calderon, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2020
On the day that the United States reported a record high single day number over 58,000 confirmed positive COVID-19 cases and the State of Texas hit a new single day record of 10,028 cases and 60 deaths, Maverick County’s surge of COVID-19 continues with an additional 36 new positive cases and an increased number of hospitalized people on Tuesday, July 7, 2020, bringing the total to 677 cases and 38 hospitalized people.
Eagle Pass Mayor Luis E. Sifuentes and Maverick County Judge David R. Saucedo announced at the daily press conference of the Eagle Pass and Maverick County Emergency Operations Center held on Tuesday, July 7, 2020, that 36 new confirmed positive COVID-19 cases were reported in Maverick County by the Texas Department of State Health Services, totaling 677 overall cases, and the total number of hospitalized people at the sole medical center in the county increased to 38.
County Judge Saucedo presented the updated COVID-19 pandemic numbers in Maverick County stating that a total of 7,226 people have been administered with the COVID-19 test, 677 positive results, 5,895 negative results, 654 waiting for test results, 400 active cases, 271 recovered people, six deaths due to COVID-19, 38 hospitalized people, and the positivity rate increased to 9.4 percent as of July 7, 2020.
Saucedo noted that of the 38 hospitalized people at the Fort Duncan Regional Medical Center, an increase of four new patients from the previous day, eight (8) people are in the Intensive Care Unit with ventilators, 26 people are on the Medical Floor with 19 positive patients and seven (7) patients are under investigation and waiting for their test results,and six (6) patients are in the Emergency Room with two (2) positive and four (4) waiting for their test results.
Saucedo pointed out that Mayor Sifuentes presented a petition to State Representative Poncho Nevarez requesting Governor Greg Abbott’s Office for 24 ventilators be provided to Maverick County to supplement Fort Duncan Regional Medical Center’s existing supply of 14 to 16 ventilators.
Saucedo added that he signed two warrants of arrest against people who tested positive for COVID-19 but have violated their quarantine orders issued to them by the Eagle Pass and Maverick County Local Health Authority. This has been a recurrent issue in Maverick County as positive COVID-19 people are not following their quarantine orders, requiring a warrant of arrest be issued for violating the Texas Health and Safety Code, a third degree felony in Texas.
Saucedo noted that the Texas Education Agency issued new public health guidelines to all Texas public school districts requiring masks be worn by students and teachers in counties with more than 20 reported COVID-19 cases when public schools resume in-person classes in August 2020, including the Eagle Pass Independent School District. Saucedo stated Eagle Pass Independent School District Superintendent Samuel Mijares is working on a plan for local students and will soon announce it upon completion.
In response to a question from a Maverick County resident, Saucedo replied that Rodolfo “Woody” Cardona, Co-Director of the local Emergency Operations Center, is currently working on a plan for a field hospital in the event the local medical center is overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients, but did not provide details. In previous statements made by representatives of Fort Duncan Regional Medical Center, the local hospital has 30 hospital beds for COVID-19 patients, 10 Intensive Care Unit beds, and 14 to 16 ventilators. With 38 reported hospitalized people, the sole hospital in Maverick County has reached maximum capacity or close to it, raising concerns among local residents where will future patients be treated if the local facility is overwhelmed.
Texas is in the midst of a COVID-19 surge of record numbers of positive cases, hospitalized people, and deaths after Governor Greg Abbott reopened the Texas economy and businesses too early on April 29, 2020 and Texans are now paying the consequences. Texas reported on Tuesday, July 7, 2020, record single day high numbers of total positive COVID-19 cases with 10,028, 60 deaths due to COVID-19, and 9,286 hospitalized people.
Texas now has a total of 210,585 positive COVID-19 cases, 2,715 deaths due to COVID-19, and a skyrocketing positivity rate of 13.5 percent as of July 7, 2020. A total of 2,471,029 Texans have been administered the COVID-19 test as of July 7. Texas is rapidly surging with positive COVID-19 cases since the Memorial Day holiday in late-May 2020, but particularly the last month.
Nationally, the United States has 34 states experiencing a surge of positive COVID-19 cases with a a record single day high of over 58,000 on July 7, 2020, bringing the total number to 3,012,200 positive cases and 131,289 deaths according to the New York Times. States seeing exponential growth of positive COVID-19 cases include Florida, California, Texas, Arizona, Nevada, Tennessee, Montana, West Virginia, Idaho, Delaware, Illinois, and others.
Without a national strategic plan and leadership from President Donald J. Trump on the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States has become the number one country in the world with the most positive COVID-19 cases and total deaths resulting from COVID-19. President Trump and his administration have left it up to each state, county, and city to determine how to handle and manage the deadly novel coronavirus pandemic. Americans are now paying the price for the lack of a national plan and leadership.
