SAN ANTONIO – The year is starting to wrap up, the holidays are right around the corner, but the omicron variant is causing some concern nationwide as more cases arise.
In Bexar County, the risk level is still mild, but in other parts of the country, COVID-19 cases are surging.
Mayor Ron Nirenberg joined Leading SA on Sunday to discuss the current COVID-19 trends for San Antonio and what we can expect to see as we head into the new year.
“The message is very simple. We have the tools in place to be able to withstand and deal with this latest surge of COVID 19, the omicron variant, and that is to get vaccinated,” Nirenberg said. “We know we always trail in terms of our infection rates from what happens along the coasts. So we should take that as a cautionary tale. We’re doing actually OK. We’re stable and the hospitals we have, you know, one of the lower transmission rates, infection rates, case rates... But we need to continue to be cautious.”
San Antonio and much of the country is simultaneously fighting the virus while still recovering from the economic impacts of the pandemic.
Nirenberg said despite the hardships, the local economy has made progress in its recovery thus far.
“Our economy has recovered quite well. In fact, some of the economic activity has beaten the forecast we set even back in September,” Nirenberg said.
The recovery is not just about businesses that were here before the pandemic, but also the new companies here in the Alamo City.
“I heard the Chamber of Commerce President Richard Perez say recently that they’ve had something like 60 ribbon cuttings on new businesses that have opened up, so business is coming back. And if we want that to continue, we’ve got to continue to be smart about it,” Nirenberg said.
In terms of continued growth, the mayor said he is optimistic.
“Well, we have all the fundamentals in place to be one of the leading cities in the country, and I do see that happening. What we want to do while that happens is to retain the quality of life and the community, sense the sense of family that we have here in San Antonio. Not lose it,” Nirenberg said.
There are already big plans in place, the mayor said.
“We’re having an exciting 2022 bond election coming up in May that is going to be part of investing in our infrastructure and accommodating growth. But the other thing that we’re doing critically is investing in people and access to education, improving access people have to economic opportunity, " Mayor Nirenberg said.
You can watch the full interview with Mayor Nirenberg in the video player above.