Two more Hidalgo County residents died after previously testing positive for COVID-19, the county reported Friday.
Two McAllen men in their 70s with underlying medical conditions were the latest fatalities due to complications with the coronavirus disease, raising the county’s total number of deaths to 31, according to a news release.
“Today is another challenging day as we lose two of our neighbors to this dangerous disease,” Hidalgo County Judge Richard F. Cortez stated in the release. “My deepest condolences go out to the friends and family who lost their loved ones today.”
“Although it might seem to some that this virus is gone, the numbers show the opposite,” Cortez continued. “This is why it’s so important to protect each other from its deadly grip by taking action through washing our hands, covering our faces and staying home unless necessary to leave.”
The county also reported 179 new positive cases Friday for a new total of 2,892. Of those, 1,918 cases are active. There are 2,829 test results currently pending.
Currently, there are 212 COVID-19 hospitalizations in the county and 19 of those patients are in an intensive care unit.
In Starr County, an additional 22 cases of COVID-19 were reported on Friday, bringing the total number of cases there to 505 — 378 of those being active.
The new cases include 13 women and nine men who range in age from 3 to 74 years old.
They are residents of Roma, Rio Grande City and La Grulla, though the residence of some patients were not disclosed.
These 22 results are all from tests conducted at the county’s drive-thru testing facility.
So far, 124 of the 505 people who have tested positive in Starr County have recovered.
Officially, there have been three deaths there, however, there are two more that are pending residential confirmation before they are included in the official count.
