EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – After a three-day lull in COVID-19 deaths following recent lockdowns, Juarez, Mexico is again reporting fatalities.
The Chihuahua state Health Department on Thursday reported seven new COVID-19 deaths in Juarez and 27 new confirmed infections. Across the border, El Paso also reported seven fatalities on Thursday, as well as 43 new and delayed confirmed cases.
The coronavirus has now claimed a combined 5,914 lives in the two border cities.
While new COVID-19 infections and fatalities have been going down and vaccination rates have been going up in El Paso, Juarez continues to struggle with the pandemic. The city reported more than 400 COVID-19 fatalities in April and went into lockdown mode for two consecutive weekends. The lockdowns resulted in three consecutive days without a single fatality.
Chihuahua officials are aware vaccination rates in Juarez badly lag those in El Paso, where 67.1 percent of the population already has received at least one COVID-19 vaccine. That may change as early as next week, said Chihuahua Education Secretary Carlos Gonzalez Herrera.
The official said up to 50,000 teachers and teacher’s aides will get the COVID-19 vaccine starting next week. The exact date is pending but Gonzalez said the Department of Defense would be flying in the vaccines and setting up vaccination sites.
At last count, just over 100,000 people in that city of 1.5 million had received a COVID-19 vaccine. Most are either health workers or people over 60 years old.