COVID-19 update: Monday, Aug. 24

COVID-19 Statistics (Monday, Aug. 24, 2020 updates)

New Mexico 24,469 cases, 723,801 tests (3.38% pos), 747 died, 11,668 recovered, 68 hospitalized. Aug 23: 24,396 cases, 719,300 tests (3.391%), 745 died, 11,539 recovered, 64 hospitalized.

Doña Ana County 2,726 cases, 38 died. Aug 23: 2,716 cases, 65,003 tests (4.18%), 38 died, 1,360 rec.

Regional hospitalizations (Doña Ana, Luna, Catron, Grant, Sierra, Socorro, Lincoln, Hidalgo, Otero counties) Aug 19: 17 COVID admissions; 47 of 112 ICU beds, 17 of 82 ventilators in use. Aug 12: 21 admissions; 55 ICU beds, 14 vents. Aug 4: 24 admissions; 58 ICU beds, 16 vents. ICU/vent figures include all patients, not just COVID-19.

Texas No update. Aug 23: 577,537 cases, 5,063,576 tests (11.4056%), 11,370 died, 451,776 recovered, 5,186 hospitalized.

El Paso County 19,554 cases, 127,407 tests (14.957% pos), 394 died, 15,887 recovered, 136 hospitalized. Aug 23: 19,396 cases, 134,998 tests (14.37%), 392 died, 14,734 recovered.

Mexico 560,164 cases, 60,480 died, 383,872 recovered. Aug 21: 543,806 cases, 59,106 died, 371,638 rec.

Estado Chihuahua 10,940 cases, 1,111 died, 5,358 recovered. Aug 23: 10,814 cases, 1,106 died, 5,341 rec.

Ciudad Juarez 5,765 cases, 746 died. Aug 23: 5,699 cases, 741 died.

USA 5,721,940 cases, 176,802 died, 2,947,272 rec. Aug 21: 5,600,607 cases, 174,380 died, 2,852,221 rec.

Canada 125,069 cases, 9,078 died, 111,269 recovered. Aug 21: 124,099 cases, 9,060 died, 110,793 rec.

Worldwide 23,424,844 cases (3,013/m), 808,716 died, 15,150,767 recovered. Aug 21: 22,589,017 cases (2,905/m), 792,475 died, 14,457,309 recovered

Population estimates Worldwide 7.8b; United States 330m, New Mexico 2.1m, Doña Ana County 218t; Texas 30m, El Paso County 841t; Mexico 129m, Estado de Chihuahua 3.77m, Ciudad Juarez 1.5m; Canada 38m.

COVID-19 Timeline 

Dec 31, 2019 First cases confirmed in Wuhan, China Jan 21, 2020 First U.S. case confirmed, in Washington State Jan 30 World Health Organization declares global health emergency Feb 29 First U.S. death reported, in Washington State Mar 11 N.M. declares state public health emergency Mar 13 U.S. declares national health emergency Mar 23 N.M. closes nonessential businesses June 1 N.M. allows limited indoor dining Jul 13 N.M. bans indoor dining, limits close-contact businesses to 25% of capacity. (Current N.M. public health orders in effect through Friday, Aug. 28.)

What is COVID-19?  

Coronaviruses cause diseases in mammals and birds. They were discovered in 1931 among domesticated chickens in North Dakota. The first human coronavirus, discovered in 1965, was isolated in the U.S. and the UK. At least seven strains of human coronavirus are known. The name comes from the Latin corona (“crown”) because of protein spikes on the surface of the virus that create a crown-like appearance.

Coronaviruses cause respiratory infections ranging from the common cold to Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). The newest coronavirus causes COVID-19 (COronaVIrus Disease 2019), first reported in Wuhan, China in December 2019. The most common symptoms are fever, dry cough and tiredness; less common are aches and pains, nasal congestion, headache, sore throat, conjunctivitis, diarrhea, loss of taste or smell, skin rash or discoloration of fingers or toes. Symptoms are usually mild and begin gradually. About 80 percent of people who contract COVID-19 recover without hospitalization; about 20 percent become seriously ill and develop difficulty breathing. Older people and those with underlying medical issues are at higher risk of serious illness.

A different virus, H1N1 influenza A, has caused two global pandemics: 1) Spanish Flu (Feb 1918-Apr 1920, up to 500m infected, 50m died; world pop: 1.8b); 2) Swine Flu (Jan 2009-Aug 2010; 491,382 known/700m-1.4b estimated infected, 150-575t died; world pop: 6.8b). Worldwide: 250-500t seasonal flu deaths annually. U.S.: 39-56m infected, 410-740t hospitalized, 24-62t died during 2019-20 flu season (Oct 1, 2019-Apr 4, 2020); 9-45m infected, 140-810t hospitalized, 12-61t died annually of flu since 2010.

COVID-19 Information Online

World Health Organization www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019

National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention www.cdc.gov

Global COVID-19 statistics https://news.google.com/covid19/map?hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aen

New Mexico Department of Health https://cvprovider.nmhealth.org/public-dashboard.html

New Mexico public health orders https://cv.nmhealth.org/public-health-orders-and-executive-orders/

City of Las Cruces www.las-cruces.org/AlertCenter.aspx and covid19lascruces.com

Doña Ana County/Joint Information Center/local, state, national services www.donaanacounty.org

Texas Department of State Health Services www.dshs.texas.gov/coronavirus

El Paso County COVID-19 statistics http://epstrong.org/results.php