Health

EL PASO, Texas -- The number of coronavirus cases in El Paso County is now fast approaching 100, with roughly 20% of all those patients hospitalized, officials said Friday night as they again made an urgent plea for residents to stay home.

Dr. Hector Ocaranza of the City/County Health Authority saw no immediate end in the sight to the rising number of virus infections.

“We are going to continue to see numbers go up as COVID-19 spreads in our community at a rapid pace. However, social distancing is the best way to slow down the rate of transmission of the virus, thus protecting our most vulnerable love ones," he said.

There were 18 additional confirmed cases in the past 24 hours to bring the total number of those infected to 96. One of those new cases involved a worker at an east El Paso call center; ABC-7 has fielded tons of complaints from the city's thousands of call center workers who complain of their employers failing to follow social distance directives.

Officials said 19 people were hospitalized Friday, with eight of those victims in intensive care units.

The gender gap between men and women diagnosed with the virus was beginning to close, officials noted. As of Friday night, those infected included 53 women and 43 men.

Ocaranza emphasized the recent city/county orders directing residents to stay in their homes. If you need to run essential errands, he said people should to do so by themselves and avoid taking seniors and children with them. As you make your way out in public, he said you "must maintain a distance of at least six feet from others."

Below is a look at the case locator map and other key data supplied by public health officials.