Coronavirus update San Antonio, July 30: First time hospitalizations drop below 1,000 since June 30

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 other local leaders updated the community about the local response to COVID-19 in their daily briefing Thursday night.

Here are a few of the highlights:

• Nirenberg reported 40,253 total COVID-19 cases and 347 total deaths in Bexar County, as of Thursday, an increase of 1,323 new cases. Five new deaths were reported today.
• City officials also reported that 965 patients are hospitalized, 380 are in the intensive care unit and 250 are on ventilators. There are 13% of staffed beds available and 54% of ventilators available.
• This is the first time hospitalizations have dropped below 1,000 since June 30, according to the city’s dashboard.
• Nirenberg said there will be a town hall next Wednesday to discuss the response to COVID-19 in schools. (See flyer below.)

• Dr. Junda Woo, health authority for San Antonio and Bexar County, said the public will get to see the indicator that will be used to determine school safety once classes are underway. She said the indicator combines positivity rate, doubling time and 14-day decline into one score.
• Woo said the asymptomatic study that Metro Health was conducting is complete, but they are still compiling results.
• Kevin Wolff, commissioner for Bexar County, filled in for Judge Nelson Wolff today. He said there is a slight uptick in COVID-19 positives at the jail. He said, however, that the situation is under control and many of the cases were coming from new inmates coming into the jail.
• Kevin Wolff also said the jail continues to hold people who should have been transferred into the Texas prison system.
• Nirenberg said anyone who needs mental health support should call the Texas Health and Human Services hotline at 1-833-986-1919.

Track daily spikes in COVID-19 cases in San Antonio, Bexar County

MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE FROM KSAT:

• Track coronavirus cases by ZIP, age in San Antonio with interactive map
• Resources from World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, City of San Antonio