Weird, I wonder why our porous border is home to so many coronavirus infections?
Probably just a coincidence.
Hidalgo County, Texas, which contains the main international border crossing in the Rio Grande Valley, experienced a 641% increase in cases per thousand residents from June 1 to July 2. Harris County (Houston), by comparison, experienced just a 167% increase, which is more in line with the rate of increase in testing.
Hidalgo County recorded just 23 deaths from the beginning of March through June 23, but 34 deaths since June 24. Hidalgo composes just 2.9% of Texas’ population, yet accounted for 20% of the state’s deaths from June 30-July 2. On many days, it recorded more deaths than Dallas County. That is simply astounding, given that Dallas County is three times larger and five times denser. Based on everything we’ve seen throughout the country, unless there is some bizarre anomaly, the more densely populated county always suffers more deaths.
Overall, 31.39% of total deaths in border counties since the beginning of the epidemic were reported in the last 10 days, compared to just 16% in Texas statewide. Put another way, 19.71% of all Texas deaths in last 10 days were reported in border counties, compared to just 10.04% before June 24.
Central American migrants cross the Suchiate River from Guatemala arriving in Ciudad Hidalgo, Chiapas state, Mexico, on Monday, Jan. 20, 2020. Some 3,000 Central American migrants made another attempt to walk across the border bridge into Mexico, but then sat down halfway across the span early Monday when they found gates closed on the Mexican side, according to the Associated Press. Photographer: Alejandro Cegarra/Bloomberg via Getty Images