EDINBURG — Hidalgo County Judge Richard F. Cortez reported Wednesday afternoon the county plans to issue a curfew to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a Facebook Live address, the judge said the curfew will apply to minors from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. and for adults from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. He didn’t specify when the curfew would be put in place.
Cortez said measures taken early in the pandemic were effective in fighting the virus.
“When we had those restrictions in place we enjoyed a very, very low rate of infections,” he said.
The goal of the measures was to keep hospitals from being overwhelmed, he said. According to Cortez, the hospital capacity in the county is now being strained.
“Today, we’re very close approaching to being at capacity,” he said.
Cortez said gatherings of people were promoting the spread of the virus.
“We can’t allow this to continue,” he said.
According to the video, the dramatic rise in cases will continue Wednesday.
“Today we are on pace to potentially break another record in terms of new cases,” County Spokesperson Carlos Sanchez said in the video.
Dr. Ivan G. Melendez, Hidalgo County authority physician, was also on the call and said that today’s numbers would top 300.
Check back for more updates.
