(CN) — Hospitals near California’s Southern border are in danger of being overwhelmed by a crippling surge in Covid-19 cases, physicians and public health officials told state senators on Tuesday.
On March 8, El Centro Regional Medical Center saw its first infections from a family that had traveled to Mexico and Florida and returned to Southern California through Georgia.
"We have seen a nonstop increases in cases at ECRMC since that day, including an increase in cases coming from Mexico,” hospital CEO Adolphe Edward said at a joint hearing of two state Senate committees, the Select Committee on California-Mexico Cooperation and the Special Committee on Pandemic Emergency Response.
Imperial County Public Health Director Janette Angulo said despite following all health guidelines and adopting a conservative approach to reopening businesses, Imperial County — which shares a border with Mexico — has still seen a startling uptick in positive coronavirus tests in recent weeks.
The surge prompted Governor Gavin Newsom to ask county officials to reinstate stay-at-home orders last Friday.
“Of the 30,700 tests administered, over 6,200 have been positive. That may not sound significant to many but when it’s a county with an estimated population of 181,000 it is substantial,” Angulo testified.
She said over the last 14 days, Imperial County’s case rate per population has jumped to almost three times as much as Los Angeles County, which has a population of 10 million.
“Dine-in restaurants, bars, personal care services and all other higher risk workplaces remain closed,” she said. “Thus, the largest question is — what is causing the surge in cases and hospitalizations in our county?”
The answer, some doctors and health experts believe, may be its way of life, in which essential workers, U.S. citizens, and permanent residents flow back and forth across the border.
“Dynamics thought to be influencing Covid-19 spread are culture, multigenerational families and infections within the same household, personal and social behaviors, gatherings, and constant comings and goings across the border,” Angulo said. “Over 20,000 people are still crossing the international border from Mexicali to Calexico on a daily basis for work, health care and other business. Travel is not just one way. Imperial County residents seek health care, shops and visit family on the other side of the border.”
Wait times at border checkpoints were up to seven hours on Friday due to screening protocols set up by the government of Mexico, she said.
“One thing I've been made aware of is the Mexico side has issued a moratorium on the purchase of alcoholic beverages, which has led to a large influx of people coming into the U.S. from Mexico to purchase things like alcohol,” said Senator Ben Hueso, D-San Diego. “The response from Mexico has been to create checkpoints on the re-entry to Mexico to make sure people aren't hoarding products.”
He asked panelists whether the rush to buy alcohol in the U.S. has contributed to the Covid-19 infection rate, “especially when people are traveling and they're informing the customs officers that they're essential travelers or workers when they probably are not.”
Health officials said they were not aware of this but would follow up on the question.
“Certainly there's a number of factors with the relationship between Imperial County and Mexicali — with people living and working and having the essential need to travel back and forth,” said Eric Lamoureux with the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.
Many of those traveling across the border everyday are health care workers. Edward said 60 out of 1100 members of his staff live in the Mexicali in Northern Mexico, about a 30-minute drive from El Centro.
“They are essential and travel back and forth,” he said.