EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — El Paso’s troubling virus trajectory continued Sunday, as the City reported its highest single-day jump in positive tests yet, at 411. El Paso also recorded the highest hospitalization rate and ICU patient-count since the pandemic began nearly four months ago.
El Paso Department of Public Health says the county now has 9,510 positive COVID-19 cases. The City also announced one additional death. The death was a man in his 80s with underlying health conditions.
As of Sunday, there are 277 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in El Paso, 91 of those are in ICU and 34 on ventilators. Saturday, the State of Texas reported El Paso only had 32 remaining ICU beds; this was before an additional seven patients were hospitalized overnight. The updated number of remaining ICU beds is expected to be updated Sunday afternoon.
The majority of new cases are attributed to community spread, according to Dr. Hector Ocaranza, with the City’s Health Authority.
“This virus is spreading like a wildfire in our community, and the only way to slow the spread is for everybody to take this seriously and stay home. If they must go out, it is important to practice all safety precautions,” Dr. Ocaranza said.
Florida reported 15,300 new COVID-19 cases Sunday, shattering state and U.S. records for single-day cases. The statewide total, including non-residents, is now 269,811.
New York previously held the record for most daily cases reported by a state since the pandemic began, announcing 12,274 on April 4.
45 new deaths were announced by the state Sunday, bringing the death toll to 4,242. With 104 non-resident deaths included, the toll is 4,346.
Florida is outpacing the field in both new cases and hospitalizations, which have both been on a steady, upward climb. Experts say the double-barreled trend could also cause Florida’s low death rate to rise in the coming weeks.
To date, 18,271 Florida residents have been hospitalized, Florida’s COVID-19 dashboard shows, 248 more than a day earlier.
… Doctors have revealed fresh details on the terrible toll taken on the body by Covid-19, releasing the results of autopsies of those who have died in the pandemic.
In a study published in The Lancet journal EClinicalMedicine, Dr Amy Rapkiewicz, the chair of the Department of Pathology at NYU Langone Medical Centre, showed the role played by blood clots in the progression of the disease.
Describing how scientists found clotting in tiny blood vessels throughout the body, Rapkiewicz told CNN the findings were “dramatic”.
“Because though we might have expected it in the lungs, we found it in almost every organ that we looked at in our autopsy study.”
Covid 19 coronavirus: What doctors found in ‘almost every organ’ of Covid victims
11 Jul, 2020 10:00am
www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=12347287
Several top Republican lawmakers said they would skip the Republican National Convention as coronavirus cases climb in Florida, where President Donald Trump is set to accept the party’s nomination in August before a large crowd.
The RNC backed out of Charlotte, North Carolina, last month and picked Jacksonville as the main site for the convention after North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles wouldn’t commit to allowing a full convention because of health concerns amid the coronavirus pandemic.
On a Monday conference call with local reporters, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, at age 86 the oldest Republican senator, said he would avoid the convention “because of the virus situation.”
Grassley said he has attended every RNC since he was elected to the Senate in 1980.
Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., who is retiring at the end of the year, said Tuesday through a spokesperson he would not be attending the convention.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, “does not plan to attend the convention at this time,” spokesperson Karina Borger told USA TODAY.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said through a spokesperson to USA TODAYthat she would not be attending the convention because it was her custom not to attend the convention in years she was up for reelection.
Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, “won’t be attending the RNC convention,” spokesperson Arielle Mueller told USA TODAY.
Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, told local reporters at the end of June he would make a decision depending on the virus situation.
“We’ll see where we are in late August,” Portman said at the time. “If I go, I’m going to go taking precautions.”
On Tuesday, Sen. Joni Ernst told reporters she also is planning to attend, though it would likely be “one day in and out.”
“But that may change,” she said. “We certainly need to monitor what’s going on on the ground.”
Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., told reporters in the Capitol on Thursday he was “probably not” going to the RNC.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell declined to say whether he would attend.
My patient caught Covid-19 twice. So long to herd immunity hopes.
Emerging cases of Covid-19 reinfection suggest herd immunity is wishful thinking.
www.vox.com/2020/7/12/21321653/getting-covid-19-twice-reinfection-antibody-herd-immunity
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