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Hidalgo County COVID-19 fatality count nears 30; 373 new cases reported

The amount of new COVID-19 cases in Hidalgo County saw its biggest one-day increase yet as the county reported 373 new cases.

This brings the overall number of known positive cases to a total of 2,503, accodring to a Wednesday news release from the county.

An additional four people, an Edinburg man in his 50s; an Alamo woman in her 50s; a Pharr man in his 70s and a McAllen man in his 70s died from complications of the virus. All had underlying medical conditions and their deaths bring the overall death toll to 29 people.

“We’ve had some very high numbers of infections and new fatalities,” Hidalgo County Judge Richard F. Cortez said in a Wednesday virtual press conference. “We can’t allow this to continue. We have to take every precaution necessary to protect the health and well-being of our citizens. The reports that we’re getting are that the reasons for these infections is all the activities in Hidalgo County and the lack of the willingness to take all necessary precautions.”

As part of these precautions, Cortez  signed a new order that limits mass gatherings to 100 people and home gatherings to 10. A new curfew was also mandated but there is no word as to when the curfew would go into effect.

Hidalgo County is currently testing up to 5,000 people per week, said Hidalgo County Health Authority Dr. Ivan Melendez.

“Right now if you take a look at the ‘curve’, it’s at its steepest increase. We are nowhere near in ‘Flattening of the Curve,'” Melendez said. “There is no cure to this disease, the only way to not get it is to minimize contact with other humans.”

Hidalgo County is currently testing up to 5,000 people per week, Melendez added.

A total of 47 people were released from isolation on Wednesday meaning that they have been symptom-free for 10 days, including three days without a fever. There are 1,666 net active cases and a total of 185 people are now in area hospitals with 19 of those cases are being treated in intensive care units.

There are currently 2,217 test results pending out of a total of 36,767 tests administered.

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