SAN ANTONIO – Editor’s Note: Watch the entire briefing in the video player above. Newsletter recipients can click here to access the video.
San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff updated the community about the local response to COVID-19 in their daily briefing Wednesday night.
Here are a few of the highlights:
- Nirenberg reported 1,326 COVID-19 cases and 46 deaths in Bexar County, as of Wednesday. He said 55 patients are in the hospital, 36 are in intensive care, 20 are on ventilators, 35 cases remain under investigation and 45% of patients have recovered.
- Nirenberg and Wolff discussed their newly issued orders during tonight’s briefing. They said the orders coincide with the state’s guidelines for reopening. Read more about the orders by clicking here.
- Wolff said the updated orders still require residents to stay home unless they are engaging in outdoor activities or obtaining or providing essential/reopened services.
- Wolff said face masks are still mandatory. However, because the governor did not make them a requirement in his guidelines, those who do not wear them will not be fined, according to city attorney Andy Segovia.
- Wolff said the suspension of evictions and foreclosures will continue through the timespan of the new order.
- Nirenberg said the area is seeing the rate of COVID-19 infections slowing. He said there was a downturn for the demand for testing for a few days, but the numbers are ticking up again. He also said the Metropolitan Health District is keeping an eye out for any trends with testing numbers, and almost 22,000 people have been tested in San Antonio.
- Nirenberg said the Health Transition Team will have a briefing tomorrow at 9 a.m. during the City Council meeting.
COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the new virus, stands for coronavirus disease 2019. The disease first appeared in late December 2019 in Wuhan, China, but spread around the world in early 2020, causing the World Health Organization to declare a pandemic in March. The first case confirmed in the U.S. was in mid-January and the first case confirmed in San Antonio was in mid-February.
Read Bexar County’s updated executive order below. Newsletter recipients: Click here to read the order.
Read San Antonio’s updated executive order below. Newsletter recipients: Click here to read the order.
MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE FROM KSAT: