[ad_1]
The mayor of El Paso, Texas, blamed the city’s recent coronavirus outbreak on “COVID fatigue” and people shopping in big box stores.
In an interview with CBS’s “Face the Nation” Sunday, Mayor Dee Margo said a “deep dive” into contact tracing data from November 10-16 found that 55% of positive results were linked purchases at major retailers.
“I think people just… the consensus is that people just got COVID fatigue and they gave up, like Dr. [Deborah] Birx said you have to wear the mask and you have to maintain the distance and you have to avoid the crowds, ”the mayor said.
Large areas, Margo said, are considered essential under federal guidelines, so it’s difficult to limit occupancy.
“And we don’t really – I have no control over the limitations there,” he said.
The city has asked retailers like Walmart for “voluntary restrictions” on occupancy, he added.
Amid the city’s outbreak, Texas National Guard troops arrived in the city on Saturday to help deal with a backlog of dead bodies.
The county also pays inmates $ 2 an hour to help them move bodies.
And nearly a month ago, the city’s hospitals were at full capacity – although this problem is starting to show signs of improvement, according to the mayor.
“The latest numbers I have on our hospitalization are that we are at 79% of our inpatient capacity, which gives us 21% excess that we didn’t have – we haven’t had in quite some time. time, ”Margo said.
Tuesday, the city of El Paso reported 319 new cases of COVID-19 and an additional 261 positive results from delayed status test reports – for a total of 86,752 cases since the start of the pandemic.
Nine other deaths were also reported, for a total of 933.
[ad_2]
Source link