Maverick County Faces Public Health Crisis as COVID-19 Cases Surge in January 2021
By: Ricardo E. Calderon, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2021
The New York Times has placed the City of Eagle Pass and Maverick County, Texas as the No. 2 metropolitan area in the United States with the highest rate of new COVID-19 infections based on population size as a result of surging cases during the month of January of 2021, only Laredo, Texas surpasses Eagle Pass as No. 1.
Maverick County Emergency Operation Center (EOC) reported on December 30, 2020 a total of 6,437 confirmed positive COVID-19 cases and 161 fatalities due to COVID-19 in Maverick County after a surge of cases following the Thanksgiving holiday.
The number of COVID-19 cases in Maverick County continued to exponentially surge during the month of January 2021 following the Christmas and New Year’s Day holidays.
Maverick County Judge David R. Saucedo reported on Thursday, January 28, 2021 a cumulative total of 9,365 confirmed positive COVID-19 cases and 186 fatalities in Maverick County, an exponential spike of 2,928 new COVID-19 cases and 25 fatalities during a period of less than one month-surpassing the previous record of cases in one month.
On Thursday, January 28, 2021, County Judge David R. Saucedo reported 438 new confirmed positive COVID-19 cases and one additional fatality in Maverick County. The 438 new COVID-19 cases establishes a record high for daily cases reported in Maverick County.
Maverick County faces a public health crisis due to the exponential growth of new COVID-19 cases in the community during the month of January 2021 with no end in sight, causing the sole hospital in the border county, Fort Duncan Regional Medical Center, to be overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients.
The public health crisis in Maverick County has drawn the attention of Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Texas Division of Emergency Services Director Nimm Kidd, causing them to request and assign healthcare personnel from the United States Military assist Fort Duncan Regional Medical Center handle the surge of COVID-19 patients. This is the second time since the COVID-19 pandemic commenced in March 2020 that U.S. Military healthcare personnel are assigned to help the sole hospital in Maverick County treat COVID-19 patients.
County Judge Saucedo reported on Thursday, January 28, 2021, that 58 people with COVID-19 were hospitalized locally at the Fort Duncan Regional Medical Center, which has 101 hospital beds, and 1,717 active COVID-19 cases in Maverick County. The positivity rate of infection increased to an extremely high 31.4% during the week of January 15-22, 2021 and 20.9% overall since March 2020.
Eagle Pass Mayor Luis E. Sifuentes requested all Maverick County residents follow the CDC guidelines of wearing face masks, washing hands with soap regularly, use hand sanitizer regularly, practice social distancing of six feet or greater, avoid gatherings, limit gatherings only to one’s immediate household, limit travel to essential matters, stay home, and get the COVID-19 vaccine to avoid community spread of the coronavirus.
Mayor Sifuentes noted that the majority of the new COVID-19 infections are coming from family or social gatherings of people and people traveling out of town. Sifuentes advised all Maverick County residents to limit their gatherings with only members of their immediate household family.
County Judge Saucedo raised the issue that the surge of COVID-19 infections and fatalities in Maverick County is attributed to public behavioral attitudes and local citizens needed to take the COVID-19 pandemic more seriously to slow the spread of the virus in the community.
Mayor Sifuentes noted that the joint City and County Emergency Operation Center is busy administering the Moderna COVID-19 vaccines allocated thus far to Maverick County, including 3,937 vaccines by EOC plus another 300 by the Maverick County Hospital District, 100 by United Medical Centers, 200 by H.E.B. Pharmacy, 100 by Walgreen’s, and an unknown number by Fort Duncan Regional Medical Center.
Both Saucedo and Sifuentes urged all Maverick County residents to take the COVID-19 pandemic seriously and follow all the public health emergency declarations and guidelines to avoid the community spread of the deadly virus.
Public health experts predict that the COVID-19 pandemic will continue strong in the United States in the following spring months as mutated variations of the virus are being found throughout the nation. These mutations are considered more infectious and dangerous than the original virus.
President Joe Biden and his administration have implemented a national strategic plan to battle the COVID-19 virus and to vaccinate 100 million Americans within 100 days in order to slow its community spread. Biden has also ordered an additional 200 million vaccines to have everyone in the country who wants the vaccine be able to get it. Finally, the United States has a President with a national plan to tackle the deadly COVID-19 virus. God Bless America.
