Hidalgo County Health Department discontinues release of COVID-19 numbers

EDINBURG, Texas (ValleyCentral) — The Hidalgo County Department of Health and Human Services announced Friday it will discontinue its three-year-long practice of releasing to the media and the public the latest numbers of those infected or who have perished because of the disease.

According to the health department, doing so, is the latest sign the COVID-19 pandemic is evolving into an endemic.

The move comes in response to new guidelines provided by the Texas Department of State Health Services. They have advised counties statewide they no longer must provide COVID-19 data to the state, according to the health department's news release.

“Hidalgo County will continue to track COVID cases as it does with the flu and other transmissible diseases,” said Eduardo Olivarez, chief administrative officer for the Department of Health and Human Services. "Health officials are in a better position to treat because of newly developed vaccines and treatment protocols that did not exist when the pandemic emerged.”