Eighty-five infants who are under the age of 1 have tested positive for the coronavirus in Nueces County, CNN reports.
The county, which includes Corpus Christi, has become emblematic of the recent surge of coronavirus cases in the state. When the pandemic first started ravaging the state, Nueces County stayed relatively healthy while the Amarillo region suffered.
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Now, however, the beachfront location has one of the fastest-growing outbreaks in the state, adding well over 2,000 new cases for each of the past two weeks.
“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, told CNN.
“These babies have not even had their first birthday yet,” she said. “Please help us stop the spread of this disease.”
Rodriguez did not provide additional information on the children’s conditions.
As The Texas Tribune previously reported, Nueces County Medical Examiner Adel Shaker said last week that a baby boy, less than 6 months old, had tested positive for COVID-19 and died.
In the last seven days, Nueces County has seen the fastest growth in new cases than any other metropolitan in the state, Corpus Christi city manager Peter Zanoni told CNN.
“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,” he said.
As of late, Texas has become a new hotspot for coronavirus cases, reporting a record high 174 deaths on Friday, according to data from the Texas Department of State Health Services.