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 16,725 total COVID-19 cases and 146 total deaths in Bexar County, as of Wednesday, an increase of 845 new cases. Nine new deaths were reported today.
- City officials also reported that 1,205 patients are hospitalized, 399 are in the intensive care unit and 232 are on ventilators.
- Amid several large event cancellations, Nirenberg said city leaders have discussed Fiesta, and there will be an announcement regarding the event this week.
- Wolff says 35,000 people have cast their ballot during early voting so far. He said less sites will be open on election day, but people will have the option to vote at any site they want if they are concerned about social distancing. He reminded people that masks aren’t mandatory at the polls but encouraged.
- Jennifer Herriott, with the Metropolitan Health District, said case investigators are facing challenges with keeping up with the rising cases in Bexar County. The city is bringing in more case investigators every day, she said.
- Herriott says Metro Health is keeping up with positive patients every 14 days for about four months.
- Herriott also said we can expect to see any July 4th virus transmission numbers around July 18.
- Dr. Paul Hancock, with Methodist Healthcare System, said it’s too early to tell if we’re in the beginning stages of a plateau in terms of hospitalizations because July 4th transmission numbers are still not available. He said, however, he has seen a shift of younger people coming into the hospital for treatment for the virus.
- Hancock said he has seen patients do well when taking Remdesivir, a treatment that is currently in limited supply and distributed by the state.
- Hancock added that if it gets to the point of mass overload at hospitals, each health system has its own crisis of care guidelines to decide how to best utilize resources for patients.
Track daily spikes in COVID-19 cases in San Antonio, Bexar County
MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE FROM KSAT: