Roxanna Miranda/The Rider Graphic
UTRGV reported 75 new COVID-19 cases between Jan. 28 and Feb. 3, according to a university official.
Doug Arney, vice president for Administrative Support Services and chair of the Infectious Disease Committee at UTRGV, said among the 75 were 31 students, 42 staff and two faculty members.
UTRGV updates the number of cases reported for campus individuals weekly through the Confirmed Cases Dashboard. The university COVID-19 Response Team provides the numbers on the website.
Arney said two of the 31 students were in on-campus isolation housing the week of Jan. 28 to Feb. 3.
In an email sent Feb. 8, the university announced both UT Health RGV Student Health clinics will continue to provide COVID-19 tests, vaccines and boosters to active UTRGV students.
Until further notice, COVID-19 services will be available from 1 to 5 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at both Student Health clinics, located in Cortez Hall on the Brownsville campus and at 613 N. Sugar Road in Edinburg.
To schedule an appointment for a test or COVID-19 vaccine, students must call 882-3896 for Brownsville and 665-2511 for Edinburg.
In Hidalgo and Cameron counties, COVID-19 cases continue to increase.
Hidalgo County reported 3,409 cases between Feb. 4 and 10, raising its total to 159,892, according to its website.
The county reported 43 deaths between Feb. 4 and 10, raising its death toll to 3,682.
Carlos Sanchez, director of Public Affairs for Hidalgo County, said Edinburg’s FEMA-sponsored testing site will remain open.
“We’ve been running one for the past 21 days,” Sanchez said. “That was at Edinburg Municipal Park. It ended [last] Monday. However, FEMA has granted an extension.”
Free drive-thru testing services will be available from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day at the park, located at 714 S. Raul Longoria Road in Edinburg.
Individuals will receive their test results within three to five business days.
The site will remain open until Feb. 21 for all residents of the Rio Grande Valley.
Hidalgo County is currently “playing catch-up” with a backlog, according to Sanchez.
“We are tens of thousands of cases backlogged,” he said. “The reason being, all private vendors who are doing testing as of late last year are required to report directly to the state instead of to Hidalgo County. And, so, the state is compiling that information, and then sending the information to [the] Hidalgo County Health Department in very large batches.”
Sanchez said some backlogged cases include duplicate cases and that the verification process is causing a delay in reporting.
“In fact, out of that [23,736] backlog, those were the verified cases,” he said in reference to a Feb. 3 news release, in which the county reported backlogged cases from January. “We actually got more than 30,000 backlog cases, but all of those other cases were duplicate. And, so, that’s the challenge that we’re having.”
Cameron County reported 3,474 cases between Feb. 3 and 9, raising its total to 70,787 cases, according to its website.
The county reported 28 deaths between Feb. 3 and 9, raising the county’s death toll to 2,104.
Cameron County’s FEMA-sponsored testing site will remain open through Thursday.
Esmeralda Guajardo, health administrator for Cameron County, said there is no cost for COVID-19 tests at the site.
“Those are open to anyone in the public wishing to get tested for [COVID-19],” Guajardo said. “My understanding is that a lot of people that are going in already have signs and symptoms. … If you were exposed, or if you’re possibly symptomatic, by all means, go get tested.”
Testing services will be available from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day until Thursday at the Sports Park, located at 1000 Sports Park Blvd. in Brownsville.
“It is drive thru,” Guajardo said. “Pretty much a ‘stay in your car’ kind of situation. There’s no need to step out of your car.”
Individuals must follow instructions provided by onsite signage and personnel.
Test results will be available within three to five business days.
