Texas virus spread even puts desert artist hub Marfa on edge

Texas surpassed 9,000 hospitalized coronavirus patients Tuesday for first time since a deadly summer outbreak as pandemic's spread threatened Big Bend region near desert artist hub of Marfa, where tourists continued visiting and officials urged people to stay home.

rising number of cases near remote West Texas border is but ar example of how virus is w spreading into places that ducked previous surges but are w ensnared by its long-reaching tentacles and confronted with its wide-ranging challenges.

Texas reported more than 15,000 new cases Tuesday, smashing previous single-day record. State health officials attributed at least some of spike to a lag in reporting over long Thanksgiving holiday weekend, but doctors and local leaders still say y're trending in wrong direction.

Marfa is located about 200 miles (321.87 kilometers) down border from El Paso, where hospitalizations have fallen slightly after a grim vember . town of roughly 1,700 people is second-largest in Presidio County, where in past two weeks number of cases since pandemic began has doubled to at least 460 confirmed cases, according to state health figures.

county borders Ojinagao, Mexico, and only hospital in rural Alpine has just eugh beds to treat only a handful of COVID-19 patients. “I feel safer going to grocery store in Ojinaga than to grocery store in Alpine,” said Malynda Richardson, only paramedic in city of Presidio, where she is also director of emergency manment services. She, too, recently tested positive for COVID-19.

Presidio County Judge Cinderela Guevara said that one in 13 people in West Texas county have contracted COVID-19. She said main concern for county, which spans nearly 4000 square miles (10,359.96 square kilometers), is that y do t have a hospital, so ill residents have to travel up to an hour or be flown out for critical care. On Monday, Guevara urged residents to shelter in place and avoid nessential travel given “alarming" hike in cases. county is where former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anton Scalia died in 2016 while staying at a ranch near Marfa.

Guevara attributes spread to family garings, people visiting loved ones or doing business across U.S.-Mexico border and those who have relaxed precautionary measures like masks and socially distancing when visiting loved ones. Richardson said increase in tourism in area may also be contributing, observing that while people often socially distance in parks and hiking trails in Big Bend region, y still visit restaurants, restrooms and gas stations in nearby towns.

Big Bend National Park has seen a large increase in visitors during coronavirus lockdown, with October recording some of biggest numbers seen in history of park, said Tom Vandenberg, a park spokesman. He said park is open at limited capacity and limits groups of eight but visitors may still find mselves searching for parking spots or sharing restrooms with or visitors.

“We are scared because our hospital is small, re is t good eugh equipment if a person becomes severely ill,” said Laura Sanchez, 50, a retail worker in Alpine.

Sanchez said she blames surge in Brewster, surrounding county in Alpine, on family garings, tourism and people t taking pandemic seriously and refusing to wear masks. She said in her Lati community, she has ticed many residents taking more precautions over fears of being sent far away for care. Big Bend Regional Medical Center said a lack of has t been an issue so far. hospital was treating four COVID-19 patients as of Tuesday and had eugh capacity for an influx of patients, said Ruth Hucke, a hospital spokeswoman. She said virus patients had died at hospital within last two weeks.

Texas is on verge of 22,000 confirmed virus deaths, second-highest in country. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has ruled out a return to shutdown measures, saying local leaders instead need to enforce existing measures, such as limits on restaurant capacity. Presidio Mayor John Ferguson said his small community has done a good job of following safety precautions but wants to see tougher restrictions as cases surge. “It’s a sacrifice we should all be willing to make,” Ferguson said. 

(Im Credits: AP)