Starr County's only hospital, Starr County Memorial Hospital, is now overflowing with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients because of the growing number of confirmed cases in the state. 

With this, the county has formed a so-called "death panel" that is set to authorize critical care guidelines to help medical workers to determine ways to allocate thinning medical resources on patients with the best chances of survival.

Starr County has a population of around 64,700 people with only one hospital to treat patients.

"Unfortunately, Starr County Memorial Hospital has limited resources and our doctors are going to have to decide who receives treatment, and who is sent home to die by their loved ones," Starr County Judge Eloy Vera was quoted in a report.

Vera said this is not what they want for their community to experience, but they must now be responsible for "ourselves and our loved ones."

Starr County health authority, Jose Vasquez, said that the situation is desperate.

"We cannot continue functioning in the Starr County Memorial Hospital nor in our county in the way that things are going," Vasquez was quoted in a report. He added that the numbers are staggering.

According to Vasquez, the county has 1,432 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 15 deaths. But more than 30 cases are pending confirmation.

"For all of those patients that most certainly do not have any hope of improving, they are going to be better taken care of within their own family in the love of their own home rather than thousands of miles away dying alone in a hospital room," Vasquez said in a report.

Surge of Positive Cases in Texas

Vasquez noted that the county was able to handle the situation when the pandemic began. But when the state started to reopen the cases increased "in an exponential and alarming way." 

Starr County once experienced for about three weeks without a COVID-19 case. During the start of the pandemic, it banned mass gatherings, tested hundreds of residents a day, released stay-at-home orders, and mandated the wearing of face masks. However, when orders were issued for the reopening of the state, COVID-19 cases surged.

According to a CBS News report, the county had 642 cases of COVID-19 on July 1. This became 1,519 on Thursday. Vera said this was the result of "socialization during the 4th of July, vacations, and other social opportunities."  

U.S. Census Bureau's data showed that the huge majority of Starr County's residents are Hispanic. Around 33 percent of residents live in poverty and about 30 percent of the county's residents, under the age of 65, do not have health insurance.

Texas Governor Gregg Abbott on Sunday said the U.S. Department of Defense has deployed five U.S. Navy teams to four locations in south and south west Texas. This includes Starr County Memorial.

Texas COVID-19 cases

The state of Texas has about 372,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 4,609 deaths. Harris County has the largest number of confirmed cases with 61,416, and 597 deaths. This was followed by Dallas County with 43,439 cases and 567 deaths. Next was Bexar County with 33,567 confirmed cases, and 283 deaths.

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