SAN ANTONIO – Two South Side councilwomen say a lack of access to health care maybe be part of the reason that side of the city has fewer documented cases of COVID-19.
As of Monday evening, data from the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District showed most of the ZIP codes with five or more confirmed cases were in the northern half of the city. In contrast, most ZIP codes on the city’s South Side either had one to four, or even zero, confirmed cases.
Even with the updated case statistics on Tuesday evening, most South Side ZIP codes remained in the one to four case range.
Metro Health said Tuesday it was too early to make any assumptions on why that was the case based on the data that was available.
While District 3 Councilwoman Rebecca Viagran and District 4 Councilwoman Adriana Rocha Garcia put forward multiple reasons, both included a familiar factor for the South Side -- a lack of means and access. That means there may be more South Siders who have COVID-19 but haven’t sought medical attention.
“I think that a majority of the folks in my area don’t have access to health care,” Rocha Garcia said. “And so maybe they’re waiting to go to the doctor as long as possible because they don’t have money to go and get seen by a doctor.”
Viagran also listed access to insurance and the cost of paying for the test out of pocket as part of a combination of possible factors that might be keeping the number of documented South Side cases low.
“Our Status of Poverty report has exemplified that there is a disparity that has existed. I think COVID-19 is just highlighting that, or demonstrating that disparity that exists, even more,” Viagran said.
A spokeswoman for Texas Med Clinic, which is providing testing at all of its locations, including the South Side, said there does not appear to be any significant difference in the number of tests performed between one clinic and another.
While the out-of-pocket cost for the test is $115, in addition to an office visit, a news release from Texas Med Clinic said most insurance plans and government programs should cover the cost.
Uninsured residents can still get a free test through Metro Health, but they need to be screened on whether or not they meet the criteria first. To find out if you are eligible, you can call 311 or 210-207-5779.
But simply having access to health care won’t guarantee someone can get a test either.
Rocha Garcia was on her 12th day of quarantine Tuesday, having had a fever and respiratory symptoms, but was only tested that afternoon for COVID-19. She is awaiting the results.
She believes there are probably other people who just haven’t been able to get a test simply because they haven’t yet met the criteria to get one.
“I was one of them, right?” she said Tuesday. “And so for a long time, I hadn't met the guidelines of getting a test, and so the important thing is that constant communication with a doctor.”
The councilwomen suggested there may be other factors that have kept down the number of confirmed cases on the South Side.
Viagran, who believes the number of cases all across the county is probably higher than what is being documented, said it was possible there was also less community spread in the South Side neighborhoods. She also believes there should be more testing.
Rocha Garcia also mentioned that there may be fewer residents who could afford to travel, which as of Tuesday morning, remained the biggest single source of confirmed cases in Bexar County. With the new numbers released Tuesday evening, the number of confirmed travel cases and community transmission cases were even at 63.
COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the new virus, stands for coronavirus disease 2019. The disease first appeared in late 2019 in Wuhan, China, but spread around the world in early 2020, causing the World Health Organization to declare a pandemic in March.
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