El Paso County officials said Sunday they have requested mobile morgues amid a rise in COVID-19 deaths in the county.
Judge Ricardo Samaniego told KFOX14 the county has asked for 4 mobile morgues in addition to the 6 trailers already in use due to the surge in virus related deaths. There are nearly 28,000 active COVID-19 cases with over 1,000 hospitalizations, according to El Paso County’s COVID-19 dashboard.
“We’ve got two more that are coming up, and then four additional ones that will be given directly to the funeral homes,” Samaniego told KFOX14.
“It doesn’t look good. It may be as much as 20 per day the next two to three weeks. There might be more and more an incline of deaths,” Samaniego said. (RELATED: Texas County Judge Issues County-Wide Curfew As COVID-19 Cases Soar)
Surrounded by death! There are 3 mobile morgues stationed outside the El Paso Texas medical examiner’s office, with 4 more needed. If you look closer, you’ll also see the medical examiners’s office is surrounded on all sides by a cemetery. @GovAbbott
????:@mandolopez pic.twitter.com/NLJkDKEz47— Cleavon MD (@Cleavon_MD) November 10, 2020
Samniego issued a 2-week countywide curfew Oct. 26 and shut down all non essential businesses Oct. 31 in an attempt to mitigate spread of the virus. Samaniego said the current status may lead to a decision to extend the order, which is scheduled to expire Wednesday.
“The hospitals are still not manageable. We’re having an inability to manage fatalities,” he told the affiliate. “It leaves me no choice but to lean towards an extension of the order.” (RELATED: Texas County Judge Orders Two-Week Shutdown Of Non-Essential Businesses Due To Rise In COVID-19 Cases)
Office of Emergency Management Deputy Chief Jorge Rodriguez said the state sent around 1,400 medical workers to El Paso, in addition to aid from the federal government, KFOX14 reported.
1,292 new COVID-19 cases and 201 delayed test results by the State are being reported today for a cumulative total of 65,651 cases and 27,895 active cases. To date, 36,686 residents have recovered from the virus.
9 deaths are also being reported today for a total of 682. pic.twitter.com/sRCKILI8G0
— City of El Paso (@ElPasoTXGov) November 10, 2020
Nick Rose, a registered nurse in El Paso told KFOX14, what he’s seen in El Paso is “rougher” than his experience at hospitals in New York.
“I’ve seen more death in the last three weeks than I’ve seen in a year,” Rose said. “I’ve done compressions on more people in the last three weeks than I have in a year.”
“We have families calling us all the time. They cry on the phone. They’re worried,” Rose said, per KFOX.
There have been 682 deaths in El Paso County county as of Nov. 10, according to county data.