At least seven more Rio Grande Valley residents are reported to have died due to COVID-19 related complications with Hidalgo County reaching another milestone in their death toll earlier this week.
This week, county officials in Hidalgo and Cameron counties reported five and two COVID-related deaths, respectively.
The deaths of the five Hidalgo County residents raised the total number deaths due to COVID in the county to 4,003. Of the five individuals, four were vaccinated and only one was not, according to county reports.
The two Cameron County residents who died due to COVID-19 were unvaccinated and their deaths bring the county’s total number of COVID deaths to 2,302.
While the number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 continues to climb, Hidalgo and Starr counties have been downgraded from a high to a medium COVID-19 Community Level by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC determines the community level for each county based on the number of hospital beds being used, hospital admissions, and the number of new COVID-19 cases in the area over the last seven days.
Cameron and Willacy counties remain at a low community level.
Nationwide, cases, COVID-related deaths, and hospitalizations are trending downward, according to the CDC.
In Hidalgo County, officials reported 851 new cases this week including 242 confirmed and 609 probable cases.
Additionally, there were 49 new cases among school staff and 133 new cases among students.
As for hospitalizations, there were 47 patients hospitalized throughout Hidalgo County with COVID at the beginning of the week. By the end of the week, that number had increased to 51 patients which included 38 adults and 13 pediatric patients.
Cameron County health officials reported 341 new cases this week including 197 confirmed and 144 probable cases.
Related coverage
4,000 dead: Hidalgo County hits another grim COVID-19 milestone
