EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — City health officials say 23 new people were diagnosed with novel coronavirus, bringing the total in El Paso County to 292. Thankfully, no new deaths were reported, and the total number of deaths stands at two.

This comes as El Paso city, county, and health officials plead with the public to take the ‘Stay Home, Work Safe’ order seriously in order to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Of the cases in El Paso County, 57 of them are currently hospitalized and 23 are in ICU. Seven of those patients are on ventilators. The number of hospitalized and ICU patients increased one each overnight, respectively.

“We will continue to see new cases as we are beginning to approach our peak. However, the hope is that El Paso will start to see a flattening of the curve as more members of our community begin to understand how crucial it is to stay home and not go out unless absolutely essential,” said Dr. Hector Ocaranza, City/County Health Authority.

“I’m relieved to learn that Gov. Greg Abbott has extended the disaster declaration in order to ensure that our community’s health can strengthen and that El Pasoans will continue to abide by our local Stay Home, Work Safe Order and practice strict social distancing,” said Dr. Ocaranza.

The 21-COVID hotline is operational from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. For referral to services contact 2-1-1 and select option six (6). For more information, visit www.epstrong.org.

KTSM Graphs