Hidalgo County reported over 1,000 new cases tied to schools Wednesday, however those numbers do not accurately reflect the actual number of new positive cases.
The county reported 125 additional positive cases Wednesday morning, but it also reported 160 new cases among staff and 892 among students in county schools.
According to county spokesman Carlos Sanchez, those numbers are accurate. He explained that sometimes cases could be backlogged by the state, resulting in larger than average numbers being reported on certain days.
Since the county began reporting daily positive cases in schools, there have been a total of 707 cases among staff and 2,677 cases among students in county schools.
The county reported Wednesday morning that 10 more residents died as a result of COVID-19; none of whom were vaccinated.
The deaths include a man from Donna over the age of 70, a woman in her 50s and a man over the age of 70 from McAllen, a woman in her 30s from Mercedes, a woman in her 60s from Weslaco, and three women from Mission in their 20s, 30s and 50s, as well as a man in his 50s and another over the age of 70 from Mission.
These deaths raise the county’s COVID-19 death toll to 3,327.
The county’s 125 additional positive cases include 54 confirmed cases, 70 probable cases and one suspected. There have been a total of 114,847 positive cases in Hidalgo County, including 67,786 confirmed, 44,620 probable and 2,441 suspect cases.
Children under the age of 19 continue to make up the majority of new positive COVID-19 cases, including 27 who are between the ages of 12 and 19, and 26 who are 11 or under.
As of Wednesday morning, there were 186 people in county hospitals with the virus, including 162 adults and 24 children. There were a total of 80 people in intensive care units, including 76 adults and four children.
The county also reported that 242 people were released from isolation Wednesday, raising that total to 109,811.
As of Wednesday morning, Hidalgo County had administered a total of 653,096 COVID-19 tests, and 537,578 of those tests had negative results.
Cameron County reported three COVID-19 related deaths and 46 additional confirmed cases of the virus Wednesday.
The three deaths included a man from Harlingen in his 50s, and a woman in her 50s and a man in his 70s from Rio Hondo — all of whom were not vaccinated. The three deaths raised the county’s COVID-19 death toll to 1,901.
Wednesday’s 46 confirmed cases include 10 cases from a Cameron County Public Health facility in Los Fresnos. The county has now had a total of 52,059 confirmed cases.
Cameron County also reported that 105 people recovered from the virus, raising that total to 47,809.
As of Wednesday afternoon, 79.86% of the county’s population ages 12-years and older have been fully vaccinated, and 93.03% have received at least one dose. The county also reported that 85.49% of the population ages 65 years and older have been fully vaccinated, and 93.48% have received at least one dose.
