Hidalgo County reports 17 more coronavirus-related deaths

August 9, 2020

Hidalgo County reported on Sunday that 17 people had died after contracting the coronavirus.

The Sunday number reflected two days of coronavirus-related deaths because Hidalgo County does not report deaths on Saturdays.

Donna doctors, city partner to provide 5,000 free COVID-19 tests

August 8, 2020

Four clinics have partnered with the city of Donna to provide 5,000 COVID-19 tests for free to Donna residents as part of an ongoing effort to combat the disease which has ravaged the small Mid-Valley town.

Among Hidalgo County’s 22 municipalities, Donna is one of only seven cities to report more than 1,000 positives. And, as the smallest city to report more than 1,000 cases, Donna also has the highest rate of infection per capita than any other city in the county.

Texas to allow limited visitation in nursing homes with no active coronavirus cases

August 9, 2020

For the first time in nearly five months, visitors will be allowed in Texas nursing homes on a limited basis, state health officials announced Thursday evening, reversing a policy intended to keep the state’s most vulnerable populations safe from a pandemic that has proved especially deadly for older people.

Residents of Texas’ long-term care facilities have been separated from their family and friends for more than 140 days, since Gov. Greg Abbott shut down visitation in mid-March.

How coronavirus devastated Texas’s vulnerable borderlands

August 8, 2020

It was a Friday night, and Ivan Melendez, the public health authority for Hidalgo County, Texas, had been on the job since 7 am. He was preparing to put in another 10 hours of work as he parked outside Edinburg Regional Medical Center, about a half-hour drive from the Mexican border.

“The other patients are looking at them not wanting to be intubated because they know what that means: They’re slowly dying,” Melendez said.