EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) – The El Paso Department of Health has changed the way it calculates active cases and this led to a huge drop in numbers on Wednesday morning.
There are currently 8,152 active cases known, which is 26,166 less than Tuesday.
“We’re just trying to streamline the system, to make sure the community – as well as everyone on the team – has their eyes on the right data to make recommendations going forward,” said Fire Chief Mario D’agostino. the head of El Paso’s emergency operations.
Previously, the health department would only consider a case as a repair if they could contact the person who was infected and confirm that they were symptom-free.
If not, that person will still be considered an active case for 55 days.
Now the city has shortened that time frame to 28 days.
D’agostino said El Paso now follows a similar approach to that of other major cities in Texas.
According to the previous calculation system, El Paso has had more than 34,000 active businesses since mid-November.
Health director Angela Mora said the city has been working on this new system for several weeks. She said it was often difficult for the health department to reach people who were infected, and therefore they would remain as an ‘active’ cause for longer than they should have been.
As for the other numbers, El Paso reported five new virus deaths and 350 new cases.
The most recent deaths include two men in their 60s, two men in their 70s and a woman in her 80s.
Click here for a full look at El Co’s Covid-19 data.