Migrants coming to El Paso increase, more test positive for COVID-19
EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14) — As the number of migrants coming into El Paso each day is continuing to increase so are the number of migrants testing positive for COVID-19.
As of March 17, there are three groups of migrants coming into El Paso.
According to city officials, 100 people are crossing the border each weekday under the Migrant Protection Protocols program, others are flown in each week from the Rio Grande Valley, and there are also migrants released by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to local non-profit organizations.
City leaders said the number of migrants who have tested positive for COVID-19 more than doubled in the last week.
“We currently have 32 positive cases,” Office of Emergency Management Chief Jorge Rodriguez said.
The migrants crossing the border through the MPP program are tested in Mexico before they cross the border and those released by ICE are also tested before heading to the NGOs but for those flying in from the Rio Grande Valley, city leaders said they aren't tested by the federal government or another agency prior to their arrival.
We continue to offer testing at the migrant shelters,” Rodriguez said. “If those individuals that are positive and sheltered cannot safely house them there, then we move them over to the isogenic quarantine hotels that we've established for other vulnerable populations.
After identifying positive individuals, contact tracing is necessary to prevent further spread of the virus.
“We're doing that very aggressively because we do want to protect not only those individuals but also those of congregate settings of those, in those spaces,” he said.
City leaders said the hotel rooms they are using to allow COVID-19 positive migrants to quarantine are not currently used to help isolate other migrants who may have been exposed to the virus.
“That ultimately is the protocols that are set up by the shelter themselves, which we've offered them some guidance on how they can do some isolation and quarantine within their facilities,” he said.
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