Fort Duncan Regional Medical Center “Overwhelmed” with COVID-19 Patients, Says Eagle Pass Fire Chief Manuel Mello
By: Ricardo E. Calderon, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2021
Eagle Pass Mayor Rolando Salinas, Jr. and Eagle Pass Fire Department Chief Manuel Mello held a press conference on Friday, August 6, 2021 at City Council Chambers to inform the citizens of Eagle Pass the latest news regarding the COVID-19 pandemic in the community.
Mayor Salinas stated “as many of you all know, COVID-19 cases have seen an increase here in our community of City of Eagle Pass and Maverick County. Our local hospital, Fort Duncan Regional Medical Center has seen a lot of patients that are now at the hospital that are COVID-19 positive. Of the people that are at the hospital, over 90% are people that are unvaccinated.”
Mayor Salinas added that Fort Duncan Regional Medical Center have informed us that over 90% of people with COVID-19 at the hospital are unvaccinated and “we come here today again to stress the importance for our people of Eagle Pass and Maverick County to please if you are not vaccinated, go out and get your COVID vaccine. These vaccines are readily available. You can get vaccinated through United Medical Centers, through pharmacies like Walmart, HEB, Walgreens. You may also contact your personal doctor and get your vaccine and they have all of them available. These vaccines are readily available in our community so they should be easy to access. So, we are here as your Mayor asking you to get your vaccine because it can save your life.”
Mayor Salinas noted that even though one is vaccinated there is a small percentage chance that one can still rarely get infected with COVID-19 known as a breakthrough infection, but medical professionals advised him that vaccinated people will generally not face severe symptoms.
Mayor Salinas highlighted that due to Governor Gregg Abbott’s current Executive Order prohibiting all governmental entities from requiring face masks, he is respectfully asking the citizens of Eagle Pass and Maverick County to please get vaccinated and wear your face masks, particularly in light of the new school year starting on August 16 with in-person classes. Salinas noted that there is an increase of confirmed positive COVID-19 cases in the community, although there is no lab confirmed Delta Variant case yet in the community.
Eagle Pass Fire Department Chief Manuel Mello stated that he encourages all citizens to get the COVID-19 vaccine of their choice and wear their faces masks to get the surge of confirmed positive cases under control.
Fire Chief Mello noted that “within 10 days you will see a large amount of people that are infected” with COVID-19. Mello added that the Eagle Pass Fire Department is transporting three to five people daily to Fort Duncan Regional Medical Center, including seven people in one day.
Fire Chief Mello highlighted that Fort Duncan Regional Medical Center is “overwhelmed” with COVID-19 patients right now. He added that there are not any beds available at the local hospital and there are now delays transporting people to the hospital because of the lack of beds. He added that San Antonio, Texas hospitals are full right now and not accepting transfer of patients from Fort Duncan Regional Medical Center and other South Texas hospitals.
Fire Chief Mello highly encourages all citizens to get their COVID-19 vaccine and wear face masks to protect themselves, family, grandparents, children, friends, co-workers, and people in the community.
Both Salinas and Mello acknowledged that the number of COVID-19 cases is rapidly increasing in Eagle Pass and Maverick County and is going to get worse unless people get vaccinated and wear face masks to control the continued transmission of the deadly virus. They also noted that local governmental entities have their hands tied from doing more to restrict or mandate citizens from getting vaccinated and wearing face masks due to Texas Governor Gregg Abbott’s Executive Order prohibiting them from doing so.
Mayor Salinas concluded stating that he and local leaders have a meeting on Tuesday, August 10, 2021 with Fort Duncan Regional Medical Center and all public health entities to assess the level of transmission of COVID-19 in Eagle Pass and Maverick County.
The joint City of Eagle Pass and Maverick County Emergency Operations Center closed in May 2021, but does continue to host COVID-19 vaccine clinics for local citizens. There is a possibility that the Emergency Operations Center may be reopened after the meeting scheduled on Tuesday, August 10.
All major Texas metropolitan areas such as Bexar County (San Antonio), Travis County (Austin), Dallas County (Dallas), Tarrant County (Fort Worth), Harris County (Houston), and the Rio Grande Valley have elevated their COVID-19 risk levels to red or highest level of alert.
