El Paso sees 200 percent rise in Covid-19 hospitalizations; people urged to stay home 2 weeks

El Paso, Texas, is turning its convention center into a field hospital and asking residents to stay at home for two weeks after the city recorded a roughly 200 percent increase in Covid-19 hospitalizations in less than a month, officials said Sunday.

The spread of the coronavirus is rising in much of the United States, including Texas' neighbor New Mexico, where a record 4,252 new cases were reported last week, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.

In El Paso, a border city with a population of more than 680,000, the number of hospitalizations recorded in the last three weeks jumped from 259 to 786, according to the city's director of public health, Angela Mora.

• Add to Google

El Paso hospitals at breaking point amid rise in coronavirus cases

01:41

In a statement, Mora warned that local health services and hospitals will remain strained for people suffering non-coronavirus emergencies like heart attacks, strokes and car accidents.

"If we continue on this trend, we risk detrimental effects to our entire health care system," Mora said. "For the sake of those hospitalized and the front line health care workers working tirelessly each day to care for them, we ask you to please stay home for two weeks and eliminate your interactions with those outside your household until we can flatten the curve."

People who don't follow new local health orders requiring masks and social distancing will face fines, the public health department said in a news release.

In a separate statement, the office of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said El Paso's convention center is set to open this week as a hospital with a capacity of as many as 100 beds. State officials were also deploying auxiliary medical units to hospitals that can provide another 100 beds apiece, the statement said.

The governor's office added that 900 medical personnel had already been dispatched to the city.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDecades-old march dispute reignites in Northern Ireland, threatening political crisis

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDecades-old march dispute reignites in Northern Ireland, threatening political crisis

More than 500 new cases of the coronavirus were reported Sunday in El Paso, and the tally is expected to rise as health department employees continue confirming the dramatic increase in the spread of the virus, the city's public health department said.

More than 170 patients remain in intensive care, El Paso County health data shows. Three new deaths were added Sunday, for a total of 575 since March.