Coronavirus update San Antonio, July 31: Leaders discuss what to expect next week from amended health directive for schools

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 Friday night.

Here are a few of the highlights:

• Nirenberg reported 40,803 total COVID-19 cases and 349 total deaths in Bexar County, as of Friday, an increase of 550 new cases. Two new deaths were reported today.
• City officials also reported that 926 patients are hospitalized, 364 are in the intensive care unit and 252 are on ventilators. There are 15% of staffed beds available and 53% of ventilators available. The mayor said the number of hospitalizations continues to go down.
• Nirenberg said he disagrees with Gov. Greg Abbott siding with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s guidelines on the reopening of schools. However, Abbott did not rescind the health directive issued by the health authority, and Nirenberg said the order still stands.
• Nirenberg said Dr. Junda Woo, medical director of the Metropolitan Health District, will issue an amended health directive next week with added guidelines. He said school districts will get to choose when to reopen for in-person classes.
• Woo said the order will include reporting new COVID-19 cases and posting them on school district websites, as well as an indicator to measure safety.
• Officials will collect feedback at the COVID-19 & Schools town hall that’s set for next Wednesday, Nirenberg said.
• Wolff said he and other local officials wrote a letter to Abbott to address the overcrowding jail population, which still includes people who have no been transferred into the Texas prison system. He said there are 3,747 inmates currently in the jail, and he hopes the state will step up and do something.

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