In its lowest number of reported cases in weeks, Hidalgo County confirmed Saturday that four people tested positive for COVID-19, county Judge Richard F. Cortez announced in a news release.
This bumps the total there to 303.
The ages of these new Hidalgo County cases range from people in their 20s to 40s, and reside in Palmview, Weslaco, Edinburg and Mission.
Twenty-one people are in area hospitals, with five of them in intensive care units. No one was released from isolation Saturday.
“The numbers testing positive are encouraging, but the numbers of those hospitalized remain constant and we are hoping to see a downturn in that area,” Cortez said.
As of now, the county has conducted 3,386 of COVID-19 testing, with 2,996 tests returning negative and 87 pending.
Over in Cameron County, Judge Eddie Trevino Jr. announced 12 more positive cases of COVID-19, bringing the total there to 366. Of those, 159 cases have recovered.
The ages of the new cases range from an 8-month old baby to 90-year-old. Only one case was transmitted through the community; the others were linked to previous cases.
Officials in Willacy County have reported a new person has tested positive for the novel coronavirus COVID-19, bringing the total there to 13.
“The case is a male in his 50s. The case is community acquired,” said Dr. Emilie Prot via a news release Saturday. Prot is the regional director of Region 11 of the Texas Department of State Health Services, which encompasses the 19 southernmost counties in the state.
The man has already been released from isolation after successfully completing a period of isolation monitored by DSHS. With no county health department of its own, Willacy County’s public health response is administered by the DSHS.
Prot further said the department conducted “comprehensive contact tracing to identify any close contacts of the patients so they can be isolated and monitored for symptoms.”
DSHS urges residents to continue practicing social distancing and good hygiene guidelines, including maintaining six feet of distance between people while in public, frequently washing hands with soap and water for 20 seconds, staying home when sick, and cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched surfaces.
Willacy County reported its first confirmed COVID-19 case just one month ago — on March 26. That person was a 4-year-old child whom authorities believe contracted the disease through community spread.
The county also reported the first COVID-19 fatality in the Rio Grande Valley earlier this month. A 60-year-old Raymondville man died on April 4. His case was one of a score connected to two Harlingen nursing homes where dozens of residents and staff have become infected.
