Health

EL PASO, Texas – The number of coronavirus cases in El Paso County jumped to 78 on Thursday night with 10 new confirmed infections, prompting health officials to again urge people to stay home.

Among the new cases is a resident of a halfway house for parolees in far east El Paso County, where the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said over 50 others he had contact with were all quarantined.

Thursday's case count comes amid a sobering data analysis by El Paso Matters that shows cases in El Paso are doubling at a rate of every two to five days; if that trend continues, El Paso could see nearly 13,000 people infected by the beginning of May.

“We must continue to make changes to protect yourself and your family by staying home and avoiding contact with those who may be infected. We can keep the total number of cases low in El Paso if we all do our part to protect our community,” said Dr. Hector Ocaranza of the City/County Health Authority.

An expanded order from city and county officials that took effect on Thursday directed residents to only leave home for essential errands. It banned public or private gatherings of any size, closed parks and golf courses and requires anyone traveling more than 100 miles from El Paso to quarantine themselves for two weeks upon return.

In a breakdown of the total cases, the health department said there were 44 women and 34 men diagnosed with the virus. Additional data and a map showing the infections across the community can be found below.