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Special task force checking for stay-at-home scofflaws in Cameron County

3 years 11 months 3 weeks ago Wednesday, April 01 2020 Apr 1, 2020 April 01, 2020 3:01 PM April 01, 2020 in News - Local

Cameron County Sheriff Omar Lucio announced Wednesday that a special task force will begin working effective immediately to stop people from violating the stay-at-home order.

At a news conference on Wednesday, Lucio announced citations will be given to people who are traveling anywhere not considered essential.

The task force will “be doing nothing but checking vehicles,” Luicio said. Additionally, vehicles containing families will be cited and vehicles with at least two people will be checked by the task force.

Road blocks will be in place if residents don’t follow the stay-at-home order, Lucio warned.

The stay-at-home order issued by Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño Jr. allows residents to travel only for essential business such as seeking medical help or going to the grocery store.

At the news conference Wednesday, Treviño warned the public to stay home.

“Do it for your family," Treviño said. If you don’t care about your family, do it for your coworker. If you don’t care about your coworkers, do it for your community — do it for your state, do it for your country, do it for the world.”

One of the many physicians at the news conference Wednesday, Dr. Ricardo Schwarts, a critical care pulmonologist in Brownsville, warned the public to stay home, adding that there will not be enough ICU beds or ventilators in the Rio Grande Valley unless people stay home and reduce the spread of the virus.

 Dr. Schwarts urged Valley residents to stay home and added that there is an 80% mortality rate for ventilator patients — if there are any ventilators available.

Dr. Kazim Hussein, chairman for the Emergency Room Department at Valley Baptist Hospital, also spoke with urgency at the new conference, mentioning the Valley is one of the most vulnerable places in Texas due to the number of people with diabetes and high blood pressure.

For more information watch the full news conference below.

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