EL PASO, Texas — El Paso County, in the far western part of Texas, reported more than 700 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday, prompting the City of El Paso's mayor to implement new restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Beginning at 12:01 a.m. Friday, occupancy limits at businesses across the city will be reduced to 50%, restaurants will be limited to take-out and drive-thru only after 9 p.m., gatherings in parks will be limited to groups of 10 or fewer, all indoor sports will be paused and no spectators will be allowed at outdoor sports.
Additionally, no home gatherings are allowed, no visitors at senior care centers are allowed and any requests for exemption to Mayor Dee Margo's office for any gathering are suspended until further notice.
El Paso County, which has an estimated population of 839,000, has consistently reported more than 200 daily new cases since Sept. 25. The last time it had reported fewer than 200 daily new cases was Aug. 14.
As of Thursday, there were at least 438 people hospitalized with COVID-19 and 111 people were in the ICU.
For perspective, Travis County, which has an estimated population of nearly 1.3 million people, hasn't reported more than 200 daily new cases since Sept. 10. The highest number of daily new cases it's ever reported was 753 on July 8.
Since the start of the pandemic, there have been more than 30,000 COVID-19 cases in El Paso County. Nearly 7,000 of them are currently active, according to the city/county dashboard. At least 554 people have died from COVID-19.
Mayor Margo said the city's new directive would not in any way impact polling locations or people's ability to vote.
During a press conference Thursday, Gov. Greg Abbott discussed the spike in cases in El Paso County, which he compared to what happened in the Rio Grande Valley.
"The situation in the Rio Grande Valley was far more stressed than the way it is in El Paso right now. We had the same experience in other regions of the state of Texas. Each of them has led to a reduction in the spread of COVID," he said.
The state has taken steps to help the area by providing personal protective equipment, like more than two million masks and 100,000 face shields, according to Gov. Abbott. It's also increasing community-based testing.
"In addition to that, we are providing El Paso County independent school districts with an additional more than two million masks and altogether more than four million pieces of personal protection equipment," Gov. Abbott said.
The state is also surging medical supplies and personnel to help El Paso County medical facilities to make sure all patients get the care they need.
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