In one month, COVID-19 hospitalizations in the Rio Grande Valley decreased by nearly 50%, reaching numbers not seen since June 2020.
As of Thursday, there were a total of 156 COVID-19-related hospitalizations in the Lower Rio Grande Valley Trauma Service Area which consists of Hidalgo, Cameron, Starr and Willacy counties.
That’s a 48% drop from March 1 when there were 301 COVID-19 hospitalizations in the Valley, according to data collected by the Texas Department of State Health Services.
The current number of patients hospitalized for COVID-19 is also the lowest it’s been since June 2020 when hospitalization jumped from 122 on June 15 to 164 the next day.
In the days and weeks that followed, COVID hospitalizations saw a staggering increase until they peaked on July 21 with 1,606 hospitalizations.
The drop since that peak represents a more than 90% decrease.
Just in Hidalgo County, there were 102 people hospitalized due to COVID-19, according to a news release issued by the county on Thursday.
Of those patients, 40 were being treated in an intensive care unit, according to a news release issued by the county on Thursday.
Additionally, there were 153 confirmed cases on Friday and 18 probable cases, according to a DSHS dashboard the tracks case trends in each county.
Per that data, there were 96 new confirmed cases in Cameron County for a total of 38,680 cases. Of those, 2,780 are considered active.
Cameron County health officials also reported four more COVID-19 related deaths for a total of 1,581 deaths there since the start of the pandemic.
Elsewhere in the Valley, there were two more confirmed cases in Starr County as of Friday and two more suspected cases, according to the DSHS data.
There are now a total 7,640 confirmed cases and 1,660 probable with 168 considered active.
There were also two new confirmed cases in Willacy County and one probable case for a total of 2,372 confirmed and 184 probable cases. Of those cases, 46 are active.
