EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — El Paso added 200 additional COVID-19 cases Saturday, bringing the number of virus cases since the pandemic began to 25,206 — of those, 1,602 were reported just this week (40 were delayed test results from the state).
The Department of Public Health also reported the death of a man in his 40s with underlying health conditions. His death marks the 530th virus fatality in El Paso County.
The number of rapidly rising new COVID cases is the highest weekly total since the week ending August 15. El Paso had seen decreasing virus numbers until they began quickly increasing last week. There are 4,030 active cases and 20,526 recovered cases in the county.
Along with the rising numbers of new cases, the number of hospitalized patients is gradually multiplying. As of Saturday, there are 178 patients hospitalized, 69 of whom are in ICU and 29 are on ventilators.
The increase in local COVID cases prompted Ysleta ISD to ban parents, band, and cheer from the Friday night football games. Ysleta ISD also announced teachers are not required to return to campus next week as initially scheduled. Canutillo and El Paso Independent School Districts already announced postponing in-person returning for hybrid students for several weeks.
