READY FOR PRIME TIME: CAMERON MOST INFECTED IN THE USA

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño issued yet another Second Amended Emergency Management Order Friday including mandatory facial coverings, curfew, limitations on gatherings, shelter in place and beach access closures which was last modified on July 25 and set to expire on Tuesday Aug. 10 will be continued for another two weeks.

"We had it under control in April," he lamented. But, like a lemming after Gov. Greg Abbott's efforts to curry favor with the Trump administration, the restrictions were lifted, too soon it now appears.

“Those are not statistics we should be proud of or leading the world in,” Treviño said, referring to the national COVID-19 crisis while ignoring that his own home is on fire.

At the same time South Padre Island Mayor Patrick McNulty and the city commission said COVID-19 crisis be damned and continue to try to milk the tourism dollars by announcing that their beaches will remain open to the Labor Day business and extended a toothless set of y'all-come-to-the-beach-anyway order simply designating the distances between beach umbrellas.

On what has become known as McNulty weasel-word doublespeak, he intoned:

“This gives at least everybody who comes down between now and after Labor Day, that this is the rule,” SPI Mayor Patrick McNulty said during the meeting.

“This is what they know that it needs to be and this is how we need to operate. That’s the way I was looking at it from extending it to that period of time.”

WTF?

Despite this affront to his authority, Treviño –  during one of his bully pulpit press conferences – waxed on and on as the county's chief executive:

“As long as these numbers continue to remain as high as they are, we have no choice but to continue to extend and enforce the orders,” he said. “For those businesses that are not following the mandates, both local orders and the governor’s, be warned that there will be checks throughout the time frame to make sure that you are in cooperation with the mandates.”

What he didn't say is that the governor has publicly stated that he will not enforce any fines or jail time county underlings like Treviño might impose.

Brownsville, the hot spot of Cameron County continues to occupy the dubious honor of leading the county in cases..and deaths. The county has recorded 16,590 positive cases since the crisis began. Saturday's numbers indicate 300 new cases were added with 162 – more than half – in Brownsville. Of the 9 new deaths reported, which brought the death count to 407, six were Brownsville residents.

This week there were 120 deaths recorded in Cameron, the deadliest so far. 

Funeral homes and crematoriums cannot keep up with the demand and at least one city cop had to receive a local remedio treatment for trauma (curo del susto) after he answered an alarm at a local funeral home and stumbled into a morgue were he saw bodies strewn along the corridor with white sheets and paper sheets pinned on them with the name of the deceased written with Magic Marker.

Brownsville Mayor Trey Mendez – like Treviño – has taken a hands-off approach while urging the city residents to please, please, follow the guidelines. Wash your hands, keep a safe social distance, wear a mask or face covering, avoid crowds, etc., So far, the results, to put it mildly, have been adverse and has the city leading the other municipalities in the county in infection.

Treviño, meanwhile, has refused to heed then pleas of county staff and refuses to shut down the county buildings in Brownsville while employees continue to drop out like flies from the active roster. Just Friday, he announced another 14 have tested positive for the virus at these sites. (Were you there recently?):

*1 from Adult Probation Department
* 1 from Juvenile Probation Department
* 2 from Justice of the Peace Pct. 5-1 Office
* 1 from District Clerk’s Office
* 3 from Parks System
* 1 from Health Department
* 4 from Sheriff’s Office
* 1 from Tax Assessor-Collector’s Office.

The COVID-19 silver lining is that as the leading virus hot spot in the United States – as well as the poorest – Treviño might again get to make another national television cameo and bask in the national limelight.