Maverick County Reports 3 COVID-19 Deaths and 93 New Confirmed Positive COVID-19 Cases During Fourth Week of September 2020, Remains on New York Times Watch List
By: Ricardo E. Calderon, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2020
Maverick County, Texas officials reported a total of three new deaths from COVID-19 and 93 new confirmed positive COVID-19 cases during the fourth week of September (Sept. 19-25) 2020, bringing the cumulative total to 124 deaths and 3,726 cases for the U.S.-Mexico border county on the Rio Grande.
Since mid-August of 2020, Maverick County has decreased the number of COVID-19 tests within the community after rising as one of the hot spots in the United States during the months of June and July as reported by the New York Times Coronavirus Project. As the number of COVID-19 testing has decreased, so has the number of new confirmed positive COVID-19 cases in the border county. But the overall positivity rate of infection has remained very high at about 20%, although local officials touted that the positivity rate for the seven days from September 16 through 23, 2020 was only 9.1% and showing signs of decreasing.
On Friday, September 25, 2020, Maverick County Emergency Operations Center Co-Director Leopoldo “Polo” Vielma stated that a total of 19,078 people in Maverick County have had a COVID-19 test administered with 3,726 positive results, 15,218 negative results, 134 pending results, 327 active cases, 124 fatalities, and a positivity rate of 19.5%. A total of 14 new confirmed positive COVID-19 cases and no new deaths were reported for September 25.
On Thursday, September 24, 2020, Maverick County reported 14 new confirmed positive COVID-19 cases and no new deaths, but a positivity rate of 19.6% and 18 people hospitalized locally due to COVID-19.
On Wednesday, September 23, 2020, Maverick County reported 17 new confirmed positive COVID-19 cases and no new deaths, but a positivity rate of 19.9% and 14 people hospitalized locally due to COVID-19. Local officials noted that the positivity rate for the past seven days was only 9.1%, but 19.9% since the COVID-19 pandemic started in March 2020.
On Tuesday, September 22, 2020, Maverick County reported 29 new confirmed positive COVID-19 cases and no new deaths, but a positivity rate of 20.1% and 12 people hospitalized locally due to COVID-19.
On Monday, September 21, 2020, Maverick County reported 19 new confirmed positive COVID-19 cases and three (3) new deaths due to COVID-19, including a positivity rate of 20.3% and nine (9) people hospitalized locally due to COVID-19.
National and state Republican leaders have pressured local officials across the Untied States to reduce the number of COVID-19 testing in order to report lower number of new confirmed positive COVID-19 cases leading up to the critical November 3, 2020 Presidential and General Election as a covert campaign strategy for President Donald J. Trump’s bid for re-election.
Despite the purported good news that the numbers of new deaths and new confirmed positive COVID-19 cases in Maverick County have decreased since mid-August 2020, Eagle Pass and Maverick County remain on the watch list of communities with very high COVID-19 cases by the New York Times Coronavirus Project.
According to the New York Times on September 28, 2020, Eagle Pass and Maverick County remains as the No. 2 metro area community in the United States that have had the highest cumulative case rates since the COVID-19 outbreak started in March 2020, bested only by El Centro, California as No. 1.
Eagle Pass and Maverick County has an average of 63.2 confirmed positive cases per 1,000 people of population compared to El Centro, California’s 65.3 cases per 1.000 people of population since the COVID-19 pandemic started.
The New York Times Coronavirus Project also ranked Eagle Pass and Maverick County as No. 2 in the nation as the metro area where new cases are rising the fastest on a population-adjusted basis, bested only by Tuscaloosa, Alabama as No. 1.
Eagle Pass and Maverick County has an average change of 353 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population compared to Tuscaloosa, Alabama’s 373 per 100,000 population.
As the fall and winter seasons approach, Eagle Pass and Maverick County officials, health care providers, and community need to learn from the summer of 2020 surge of COVID-19 cases and implement new preventative programs to avoid a new contagion of cases within the community.
Nationally, the United States has reported as of September 27, 2020, a total of 204,597 deaths due to COVID-19 and a total of 7,139,300 COVID-19 positive cases.
Texas has reported a total of 15,522 deaths due to COVID-19 and 735,132 COVID-19 positive cases as of September 26, 2020.
