The latest numbers from the Imperial County Public Health Department show a jump in the number of COVID-19 related deaths.

The information released Wednesday morning show that there are now 367 deaths attributed to the coronavirus in Imperial County , an increase of 7 over the previous day. The number of active COVID-19 cases in the Valley is now 1,659 , that's an increase of 256 over the previous report. El Centro Regional Medical Center reports that as of Wednesday morning the inpatient count was 146 with 88 of those individuals hospitalized for COVID-19. The El Centro facility has a total of 161 licensed beds. ECRMC is expecting authorization to open up to an additional 50 beds in a temporary medical / surgical tent set up in the hospitals north parking lot. The number of COVID-19 cases continues to spike as we have reached two weeks after the Thanksgiving holiday. Local and State health officials expect to see the surge continue and possibly get even worse with the coming Christmas holiday.