At Texas border, pandemic’s high toll lays bare gaps in health and insurance
René Kladzyk, Phil Galewitz and Elizabeth Lucas
El Paso Matters and Kaiser Health News
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El Paso Alfredo “Freddy” Valles was an accomplished trumpeter and a beloved music teacher for nearly four decades at one of the city’s poorest middle schools.
He was known for buying his students shoes and bow ties for their band concerts, his effortlessly positive demeanor and a suave personal style “he looked like he stepped out of a different era, the 1950s,” said his niece Ruby Montana.
While Valles was singular in life, his death at age 60 in February was part of a devastating statistic: He was one of thousands of deaths in Texas border counties where coronavirus mortality rates far outpaced state and national averages.
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