EL PASO, Texas — The Texas National Guard has sent a 36-member team to El Paso to assist morgues in the border region with the number of dead as a result of COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus.
Statewide, the Texas health department on Saturday reported a one-day high of 12,597 new virus cases, nearly 20,500 dead and more than 8,200 virus hospitalizations.
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The White House authorized the missions to continue until Dec. 31 after governors asked for more help.
“The Texas military will provide us with the critical personnel to carry out our fatality management plan and we are very grateful to them for their ongoing support,” El Paso Mayor Dee Margo said in late Friday when the deployment was announced.
The pandemic is blamed for more 300 deaths in El Paso County since October, 853 total since the pandemic began.
Jail inmates are being paid to move bodies and county leaders are offering $27 an hour for morgue workers.
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The 67 volunteer soldiers will be assisting officers at the Montana State Prison in Deer Lodge with duties such as distributing mail and meals.
County Judge Ricardo Samaniego, in a letter to Gov. Greg Abbott asking for support for a 10 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew in the county, said mortuaries are being overwhelmed.
“As of (Friday), our Medical Examiner’s Office is reporting that 234 fatalities are being held at our main morgue and at our nine mobile morgues,” Samaniego wrote.
State Guard units have faced exhausting demands in the past two years dealing with COVID-19, natural disasters and other military deployments.
Staffers in non-medical posts will not face firings while a court battle over the vaccine mandate is pending.
Army Gen. Richard Clarke is working from home, with mild symptoms, after testing positive Sunday.
Military spouses have historically faced high rates of unemployment.
Officials had said firings could start this month for staffers who missed vaccination deadlines last fall.
Icebreakers are imperative to the national security of the United States and its Arctic territories.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the weapons were launched from an eastern coastal area, but it didn’t immediately say how far they flew.
The commander in chief signed an executive order Wednesday making the changes to the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
U.S. and NATO officials have separately delivered new sets of proposals to the Russian government for sorting out security concerns in Europe, while rejecting Russia’s demand that the alliance forever close its door to Ukraine.
Country band Midland released the video on Jan. 22.
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