Federal, State Help Sent To El Paso Hospitals Struggling With COVID-19 Surge - Governor

EL PASO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 26th October, 2020) Federal and state resources are being sent to the Texas city of El Paso as hospitals reach capacity after more than 13,000 people in the city contracted the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the last three weeks, Governor Greg Abbott said in a press release.

"Texas is grateful to the US Department of Health and Human Services for providing these crucial resources and for working alongside state and local officials to combat the spread of COVID-19 in El Paso," Abbott said on Sunday, adding "We are working closely with our federal and local partners to meet the needs of the El Paso community and ultimately bring hospitalizations down."

Abbott's office said the US Department of Health and Human Services was sending two 35-person Disaster Medical Assistance Teams and a Trauma Critical Care Team.

In a separate press release, Abbott's office said the state is establishing a field hospital in El Paso this week with a capacity of up to 100 beds.

The release added that more than 900 medical personnel have already been deployed to El Paso.

On Saturday, Abbott asked the Trump administration to authorize the use of the local William Beaumont Army Medical Center on Fort Bliss to house non-COVID patients in order to free up beds at the city's area hospitals for coronavirus patients.

The New York Times COVID-19 tracker showed that as of Sunday El Paso, which has a population of about 683,000 people, is among the US cities with the highest infection rate.

El Paso has reported 39,326 cases of COVID-19 and 575 deaths related to the disease since March, according to the city's data. As of Sunday, nearly 800 individuals with COVID-19 have been hospitalized and the number can be expected to grow at the current rate in the coming days.