EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – New COVID-19 cases continue to decline in El Paso County but the death toll keeps rising.
The City-County Health Department on Monday reported 28 new coronavirus-related fatalities to bring the total to 1,425. Monday’s report includes deaths over a five-month span. Some were only recently confirmed as COVID-19 related.
The department also reported 226 new cases and said the Texas State Health Department informed it of an additional five positive tests. The county has now recorded 97,409 cases since the pandemic began.
El Paso in early November became one of the nation’s coronavirus hot spots, with more than 1,000 new cases reported daily.
Across the border in Juarez, Mexican health officials diagnosed 48 new cases to bring the city’s total to 28,834 and reported no new deaths. A total of 2,398 people have died from COVID-19 complications so far.
Health officials on both sides of the border remain concerned that family gatherings over the long Christmas weekend will result in additional COVID-19 infections. However, they say they won’t know the extent of the spread for at least another week.
