COVID-19 hospitalizations in the Rio Grande Valley are going up. Again.
As hospital admissions are trending up in the United States, so too in the Valley the number of patients hospitalized due to COVID-19 have increased.
On Monday, there were 38 people in hospitals throughout the Valley due to COVID, which was up by 10 to 48 total hospitalizations by Friday, according to data from the Texas Department of State Health Services, or DSHS.
The 48 patients reported Friday included 32 general adult patients, 13 adult patients in intensive care units, and three pediatric patients.
The current levels of COVID-19 hospitalizations are a stark increase from less than three weeks ago when hospitals here reported a low of 26 total hospitalizations on May 17.
The difference from those 26 hospitalizations and the current 48 hospitalizations is an increase of about 85%.
Just in Hidalgo County, the COVID hospitalizations remained steady this week with the county reporting 25 total patients — 15 adults and 10 pediatric patients — who were hospitalized due to COVID on Wednesday.
On Friday, there were still a total of 25 patients in the county — 16 adults and nine pediatric patients. Of the 25 patients hospitalized on Friday, five of them — four adults and one pediatric patient — were in intensive care units.
The county also reported three COVID-related deaths this week. Two of those deceased individuals were vaccinated.
There have now been a total of 3,915 recorded deaths in the county due to COVID-19.
Hidalgo County reported a total of 1,284 new cases this week, although that included cases that were reported to them last week.
The new cases included 701 confirmed cases and 583 probable cases.
In schools throughout the county, there were 84 new cases among school staff members and 83 new cases among students. To date, there have been 4,652 staff members and 17,034 students who have tested positive this school year.
Cameron County health officials reported 565 new cases this week including 295 confirmed cases, 257 probable cases, and 13 self-reported cases that resulted from at-home tests.
They reported no COVID-related deaths this week leaving the total number of their COVID-related deaths at 2,242.
Starr County reported 27 confirmed cases and 33 probable cases this week, according to DSHS data. Willacy County reported 23 confirmed cases and 10 probable cases this week.
