The number of positive COVID-19 cases in El Paso County has now reached 125.
On Monday, the City of El Paso Department of Public Health (DPH) reported ten (ten) new cases. Positive cases in El Paso County include 66 females and 59 males; see accompanying graphics and map. As of today, there are 27 who are hospitalized and 10 of those hospitalized are currently in ICU.
“Our community was ordered and urged to continue to stay home whenever possible. To only go out for essential activities and to choose only one person in the household to carry out those essential activities such as grocery shopping or pick up medicines,” said Dr. Hector Ocaranza, City/County Health Authority. “We will continue to emphasize how our community will have a dramatic increase in cases in coming week, but we should also recognize that there are new recommendations to help slow down or stop the spread of COVID-19
One of those new recommendations for El Pasoans is to follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance that ask the public to consider wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and pharmacies).
The CDC advises the use of simple cloth face coverings to slow the spread of the virus and help people who may have the virus and do not know it from transmitting it to others. Cloth face coverings fashioned from household items or made at home from common materials at low cost can be used as an additional, voluntary public health measure.
Cloth face coverings should not be placed on young children under age 2, anyone who has trouble breathing, or is unconscious, incapacitated or otherwise unable to remove the mask without assistance. Surgical masks and N-95 respirators are critical supplies that must continue to be reserved for healthcare workers and other medical first responders, as recommended by current CDC guidance. (see:www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/diy-cloth-face-coverings.html)
COVID-19 symptoms include fever, cough and shortness of breath. If these symptoms do not improve, they should contact their healthcare provider or seek medical attention. 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 services contact 2-1-1 and select option six (6). For more information, visitwww.epstrong.org.