El Paso, Texas, has come to the attention of the nation due to the rise of COVID-19 cases in the city since November, for which they have had to hire mobile morgues and pay inmates to carry the bodies of those who died from the virus. They are now in Stage 1 of their COVID-19 Community Scoreboard, meaning that more than 10% of conducted tests are still positive and that there are more than 25 cases per 100,000 people per day.
UnidosUS Affiliates continue to take extraordinary measures to protect the health and safety of the El Paso community, while also tending to the increased educational, housing, and economic challenges faced by Latino families. Today we bring you the voices of Project BRAVO and Project Vida, who share their work and their hopes for their city.
By Beatriz Paniego-Béjar, Content Specialist, UnidosUS
El Paso County Public department dashboard for COVID-19 cases.
As of Thursday, December 3, El Paso has seen 88,491 total COVID cases (545 new), 867 people hospitalized, and 968 total deaths. El Paso Mayor Dee Margo, in an interview last weekend, mentioned “COVID fatigue,” people letting their guard down, as the factor for the fall surge in cases. On the other hand, a report from the local nonprofit news outlet El Paso Matters found out that the city’s low-income neighborhoods have been disproportionately affected by this new wave of coronavirus infections, which are the areas where many essential workers, who do not have the option of working from home, live.