Court stops El Paso shutdown even as coronavirus death toll approaches 750

EL PASO – A Texas appeals court in El Paso ruled 2-1 Friday to overturn a county order temporarily shutting down non-essential businesses, a move that some doctors and nurses have called “disheartening” “irresponsible” and a mistake”.

“The court considered this cause in the record and concluded that there was an error in the dismissal by the court of first instance of the appellants’ request for a temporary injunction”, ending the closure of businesses classified as non essential until Dec. 1, the court said.

El Paso health officials also announced 16 more COVID-19 deaths and 1,488 new cases, bringing the death toll to 741. 360 more deaths are under investigation, said county judge Ricardo Samaniego, who has Ordered to shut down the town, a move met with resistance from Mayor Dee Margo, State Attorney General and Governor Greg Abbott, as well as a group of local business leaders who filed complaint.

The court decision was followed by an extraordinary refusal by a group of nurses and doctors who called the decision “disheartening”, “disappointing” and “irresponsible” as the county reported a another record day of hospitalizations. Healthcare workers are warning of a humanitarian catastrophe that can only worsen as the holidays approach and just weeks before the start of the flu season.

“This decision was very irresponsible and insensitive to the needs of not only our community, but our health workers,” Idali Cooper, a registered nurse who works in a pediatric intensive care unit in El Paso, said on Friday during a virtual press conference organized. by National Nurses United, a union with some 150,000 members across the country. “It is obvious to us that they have no idea what we are going through in hospitals.”

Ariana Lucio, nurse at Del Sol Medical Center, said: “Covid has taken emotional and physical toll on nurses, doctors, everyone. I think we have to remember that these patients that we see are alone, that they cannot have visitors. The most difficult part of the disease is that many will never see their family members again.

“I want to encourage the community to try to stay home as much as possible. … Even though the order has been suspended, I think we should try to take our responsibility and do all we can to help stop the rise of COVID cases here.

For El Paso, the dire situation reflects the pressing challenges of tackling a growing crisis with what some say is an inadequate state strategy and no national strategy. Civic leaders on both sides of the border, including Samaniego, say the problem is made more distressing due to El Paso’s pronounced isolation from the rest of the state, located in the far west of the border, next to Mexico and New Mexico, two entities with varying health status. guidelines and approaches to a pandemic that is tearing apart three communities and knows no borders.

In Juárez, a curfew from 7:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. is in effect. The pandemic shows no signs of slowing down as deaths skyrocket, even though the city remains busy, with vehicles crawling along major avenues. On Friday, 1,617 people died in Juárez. Across Mexico, 96,430 people have died.

In Juárez, essential businesses, including grocery stores, are limited to one customer at a time. At Costco, for example, store workers check vehicles to make sure there isn’t more than one person inside before they allow vehicles into parking lots. Bars are closed and dining in restaurants is prohibited.

In New Mexico, across the border with El Paso state, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham announced a two-week statewide shelter-in-place order starting Monday. This includes Thanksgiving weekend.

As of Monday, non-essential businesses in New Mexico must close, and essential businesses – such as grocery stores, drugstores, daycares, gas stations and more – can remain open for limited operations. Restaurants can provide curbside pickup and delivery services, but on-site dining is prohibited. Essential retailers must close from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m.

Samaniego is also worried about the holidays and insists his temporary order was intended to give hospitals a wiggle room and healthcare a much-needed break.

The back and forth over the closing order and the war of words between Samaniego and Margo has been exhausting for small business owners like Martin Larquier, who runs the Larquier 2000 hair salon.

“I understand how dire the health situation is,” he said, naming friends who have succumbed to the pandemic or who are in hospitals on both sides of the border fighting for their lives. “But as a small businessman, these lockdowns don’t make sense when we have to compete with large companies that stay open.

“The pain should be felt by everyone. I obey the law. But obedience costs me and my employees when the laws are not applied uniformly. I’m near the end of my rope, ”he said, adding that he had taken side jobs as a gardener and roofer to make ends meet.

In a tweet, State Attorney General Ken Paxton celebrated the court’s decision, describing Samaniego as a “bully who thinks he can ignore state law.” He said he would not “let rogue political subdivisions try to kill small businesses and holiday gatherings through illegal executive decrees.”

Paxton did not mention, in his tweet, the death toll or the number of 70,757 COVID cases, more than half of them in the past 30 days or so, or 1,132 patients currently in hospital, which puts the system on strained health.

Samaniego had no immediate comment.

Healthcare workers like Juan Anchondo pushed back, warning: “It will get worse if we continue to set new records every day with infections, hospitalizations and deaths here in El Paso County with our governor, the district attorney. general and the court as accomplices in this tragedy. “

Writer Valeria Olivares contributed Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.