EDINBURG — Hidalgo County announced another 21 cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday evening, bringing the total for the county to 537.
Of those cases, 215 remain active, with 16 individuals hospitalized — three of them in intensive care units.
“I know we all would like for this disease to go away,” county Judge Richard F. Cortez wrote in a news release. “But this is evidence that the problem is still with us and we must be mindful of that. We must continue to practice safe measures like physical distancing, good hygiene and avoiding large crowds.”
According to a statement from the county, 12,023 COVID-19 tests have been administered and the results from 2,973 of those tests remain pending.
“The growth in the number of tests are due to active mobile test sites and the 730 patients and staff who have been tested at four McAllen nursing homes,” the release read. “These tests have been done by the Texas Department of Emergency Management, the military and Emergency Medical Task Force-11.”
The 21 new cases announced Wednesday include 10 women and 11 men from Alamo, Edinburg, Hidalgo, McAllen, Mission, Weslaco and Pharr who range in age from their 20s to over 70.
Over in the lower Rio Grande Valley, Cameron County reported an additional 20 COVID-19 cases Wednesday evening, bringing the total there to 731. Of those individuals, 522 have recovered.
Cameron’s new cases include 12 women and eight men residing in Brownsville, Harlingen, Los Fresnos, San Benito and Rio Hondo who range in age from 20 to 90.
Three new cases of the coronavirus were also reported in Starr County on Wednesday, bringing the total number of cases there to 27.
According to Dr. Jose Vazquez, the Starr County health authority, the new cases all involved Rio Grande City residents. Two of them are men and one is a woman, ranging in age from their 20s to 50s
One of the individuals has been hospitalized, Vazquez said, adding that one of the cases is travel-related and the others remain under investigation.
