COVID-19 update: Thursday, Aug. 20

COVID-19 Statistics (Thursday, Aug. 20, 2020 updates)
New Mexico 23,951 cases, 694,824 tests (3.447% pos), 734 died, 11,145 recovered, 74 hospitalized. Aug 19: 23,749 cases, 688,495 tests (3.45%), 729 died, 10,976 recovered, 94 hospitalized.
Doña Ana County 2,685 cases, 63,293 tests (4.234% pos), 37 died, 1,311recovered. Aug 19: 2,664 cases, 62,875 tests (4.235%), 36 died, 1,284 recovered.
Regional hospitalizations (Doña Ana, Luna, Catron, Grant, Sierra, Socorro, Lincoln, Hidalgo, Otero counties) 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. Note: ICU/vent figures include all patients, not just COVID-19.
Texas 562,559 cases, 4,937,332 tests (11.394% pos), 10,793 died, 431,960 recovered, 5,635 hospitalized. Aug 19: 557,256 cases, 4,901,136 tests (11.37%), 10,250 died, 424,685 recovered, 5,974 hospitalized.
El Paso County 19,057 cases, 127,407 tests (14.957% pos), 382 died, 14,475 recovered, 161 hospitalized. Aug 19: 18,914 cases, 126,665 tests (14.93% pos), 372 died, 13,948 recovered, 168 hospitalized.
Mexico 537,031 cases, 58,481 died, 367,537 recovered. Aug 19: 531,239 cases, 57,774 died, 363,307 rec.
Estado de Chihuahua 10,353 cases, 1,086 died, 5,010 rec. Aug 19: 10,164 cases, 1,074 died, 4,824 rec.
Ciudad Juarez 5,448 cases, 734 died. Aug 19: 5,366 cases, 732 died.
USA 5,550,029 cases, 173,306 died, 2,852,221 rec. Aug 19: 5,498,384 cases, 171,800 died, 2,823,249 rec.
Canada 123,653 cases, 9,051 died, 110,049 recovered. Aug 19: 123,336 cases, 9,047 died, 109,628 rec.
Worldwide 22,427,054 cases (2,884/m), 788,015 died, 14,349,473 recovered. Aug 19: 22,218,441 cases (2,857/m), 782,883 died, 14,156,533 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 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