Zero COVID-19 deaths reported in RGV; 110 new cases

Throughout the Rio Grande Valley, no new deaths caused by COVID-19 were reported Tuesday, though there were 110 new cases.

Hidalgo County officials reported no new COVID-19 related deaths and 77 new cases Tuesday.

The total number of deaths due to COVID-19 remains at 2,886, according to a news release issued by the county Tuesday.

Of the 77 new cases reported, 34 are confirmed and 43 are probable.

This raises the total number of COVID-19 cases in Hidalgo County to 91,881 since the start of the pandemic.

Of those cases, 60,081 were confirmed, 29,655 probable and 2,145 suspected.

Currently, 563 cases are considered active.

There are also 75 individuals hospitalized in the county due to COVID-19 and 27 of those patients are being treated in an intensive care unit.

Cameron County health officials reported 22 new confirmed cases there for a total of 41,444 cases since the beginning of the pandemic.

Because there were no new coronavirus-related deaths in Cameron County, their total number of fatalities remains at 1,672.

In Starr County, there were nine new confirmed cases while Willacy County reported two new cases.

Throughout all of Public Health Region 11 — a 19-county region that includes the four counties of the Valley — there was an increase of 938 cases over a seven-day period, according to Dr. Elizabeth Cuevas with the Texas Department of State Health Services.

The previous seven-day increase was 745 cases, Cuevas said, adding that they were currently tracking two outbreaks in the region, both of which occurred in schools.

“These numbers have remained steady over the past seven days, they have minor fluctuations but have been pretty steady,” Cuevas said. “We’re not seeing major increases in cases, we’re not seeing major increases in hospitalizations.”

There were 107 COVID-19 hospitalizations in the Rio Grande Valley as of Monday, according to data collected by DSHS, which is a 20% drop from the 135 hospitalizations reported two weeks prior. COVID-19 hospitalizations now represent only 3.5% of all hospitalizations.

Because of the continued decrease, Cuevas said the state resources deployed to the area when COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations were at an all-time high were now being demobilized.

“We’re seeing hospitals start demobilizing durable medical equipment that was requested at the beginning of the response, so this material is being returned because it is no longer being used or needed for COVID-19 patients,” Cuevas said, adding that state-supported staffing such as nurses and other hospital staff, were deployed to hospitals here.