5 more test positive for COVID-19 in Hidalgo County

The number of people who tested for COVID-19 in Hidalgo County surpassed the 6,000 mark Monday as five more people tested positive for the virus.

Health officials have tested 6,219 people in Hidalgo County which has seen a total of 394 positive tests, the county announced Monday. This makes it a positive rate of 6.3 percent which the World Health Organization has said that anything below a rate of 10 percent is considered good.

“Hidalgo County is preparing to ramp up testing over the next few weeks so the number of positive cases is expected to increase,” Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez said in a news release. “If we maintain a positive rate this low, however, that will be encouraging.”

An additional five people were released from isolation Monday, bringing the total amount released from isolation to 223. The amount of active COVID-19 cases in the county remains at 163 Monday, the release stated.

15 people remain in area hospitals with four of them in intensive care units, according to the release?