WE DEMAND THAT STATE, FEDS TAKE OVER COVID COUNT

Special to El RrunRrun

Given their admission that they are far behind - at least a month - in the count of COVID-19 deaths, the cry among Cameron County residents is for a competent authority to take over the task and tell us the truth.

How can it be that the county reports to the state one number and reports in its health department page another?

And why is the number given to local residents always lower than the one the health department sends to the state?

Can anyone blame some of us for being skeptical of the caliber of management skills that everyone from Cameron County Judge Eddie Trevino to his medical director Dr. Jaime Castillo have exhibited up to now in the face of of the crisis?

How can we take this deadly virus seriously when the numbers have been obviously doctored (no pun intended)
and may have contributed to the lax attitudes of local residents to the spreading contagion?

The announcements from the county judge's office - and from other county departments who have followed suit - do not conform to reality. Some departments have experienced fatalities that haven't showed up in the judge's daily count.

Ask for the dates of the deaths announced as happening the night before and no one in the county can provide them under the excuse that there are privacy consideratons and legal obstacles to their release.

Bullshit.

It's obvious neither the county under Trevino and Castillo - nor the municipalities - are capable or willing to admit they have lost the handle on this killer and would rather cover up the extent of our situation.

The schools are getting ready to reopen for instruction. It would be criminal if the board and administration relied on these cooked numbers to decide whether children will be exposed to danger or possible death because of this negligence.