Hidalgo County announced on Monday nine additional COVID-19 related deaths and 453 new confirmed cases of the virus.
The deaths include a man in his 40s from Donna, a woman over 70 from Hidalgo, two women in their 60s and a man and woman over 70 from McAllen, two women in their 60s from Mission, and a woman in her 50s from San Juan.
The death toll in the county is now 2,130. With the new cases, the county’s total stands at 47,562.
There are currently 217 people in county hospitals with the virus, and 80 of those people are in intensive care units. Additionally, 129 people were released from isolation Monday, raising that total to 42,566.
There are 2,866 net active cases in the county as of this morning.
The county has administered 275,564 COVID-19 tests, and 227,201 have been negative.
The county also announced changes to its COVID-19 dashboard on its website.
In a news release, the county announced that the dashboard on www.hidalgocounty.us will temporarily go offline while it transitions to a new format that conforms with changes made at the state level for release of statistical information.
The county will begin announcing test results in accordance with the Texas Department of State Health Services 2020 Case Criteria Guide in three categories:
The categories are split up between confirmed, probable, and suspect cases.
“Confirmed: A person who has tested positive through a molecular or PCR (oral or nasal swabs) test that looks for the presence of the virus’s genetic material,” county officials explained in the release. “Probable: A person who has tested positive through an antigen test (nasal swab) that detects the presence of COVID in the system.
“Suspect: A person who has tested positive for having COVID-19 antibodies through a specific type of serum, plasma or whole blood test, but has no prior history of being a confirmed or probable case.”
ELSEWHERE IN THE VALLEY
Cameron County reported four additional COVID-19 related deaths and confirmed 294 new cases on Monday.
The deaths include a man in his 70s from Combes, a man in his 40s from Brownsville, and two men in their 50s and 70s from Harlingen.
The four deaths raise the county’s death toll to 1,150.
The county’s total number of COVID-19 cases rose to 27,585. Of the new cases, 129 were Brownsville residents, 64 were from Harlingen, 38 from San Benito and 25 from Los Fresnos.
Cameron County also reported that 73 people recovered from the virus, raising that total to 24,154.
Starr County reported six new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday.
There are 308 active cases of COVID-19 there, and 4,293 people have recovered from the virus.
The county’s COVID-19 death toll is 194.
