EL PASO, Texas – El Paso health officials reported five new deaths from Covid-19 and an additional 481 cases on Saturday morning, for a cumulative total of 109,589 cases and 1,641 deaths.
The latest deaths included a man and woman in their 50s, a man in their 60s, a man in their 70s and a man in their 80s. All five had underlying health problems, officials said.
On Saturday, the number of active infections was 35,080.
Infections in El Paso have been on the rise since the Christmas and New Year holidays, but remain below the peak of fall, according to an analysis by El Paso Matters of data from the El Paso Department of Public Health.
So far, in January, the analysis by El Paso Matters also shows that people aged 19 or under represent almost 20% of new infections, which is more than 3 points higher than the proportion of cases in 2020. The The increase in cases among children reaches a time when some schools have returned to face-to-face learning.
Officials said 72,306 inhabitants of El Paso have so far recovered from the virus. However, doctors noted that some people who have been infected can suffer long-term health impacts despite their recovery.
Complete virus data from the El Paso health department can be found online at EPStrong.org.
(El Paso Matters contributed to this report.)