Local officials are urging residents to help stop the spread of the coronavirus after 85 infants under the age of one tested positive for it.
According to CNN, the state of Texas has become one of the newest hotspots. Nueces County, where Corpus Christi is located, new cases skyrocketed this month after a flattening trend and have infected dozens of infants.
“We currently have 85 babies under the age of one year in Nueces County that have all tested positive for Covid-19,” Annette Rodriguez, director of public health for Corpus Christi Nueces County said.
“These babies have not even had their first birthday yet. Please help us stop the spread of this disease.” Rodriguez did not provide additional information on the condition of the infants.
“Nueces County has the fastest growth in new cases on the seven-day average than any other metropolitan county in the state,” added Peter Zanoni, the Corpus Christi city manager. “You can see the trend line is relatively flat until July, and this is where we have had that huge spike in cases, and this is why it’s turned into a major problem for Nueces County.”
Corpus Christi has reported about 8,100 cases and 82 deaths related to the virus. Other state counties such as Cameron and Hidalgo are so dire, Health officials have arranged for refrigerated trucks to store bodies as morgues reach capacity.
State representatives Sheila Jackson Lee and Joaquin Castro addressed a letter to Governor Greg Abbott claiming local districts should be allowed to issue stay at home orders to help contain the virus.
“Texas is now not where it should be relating to fighting Covid-19. Therefore, your office should take immediate action to rewind the efforts to reopen the state quickly; which came about by ignoring CDC guidelines,” the letter said. “We need to provide local authority to local counties and cities to do what is in the best interest of their communities.”
