-
Jerry Canedo, 57, has his temperature checked by Irene Martin as she checks on his vitals at University Hospital on Wednesday, July 8, 2020. Hospitals and health care workers across the city are dealing with the rapid surge of COVID-19 patients.
Jerry Canedo, 57, has his temperature checked by Irene Martin as she checks on his vitals at University Hospital on Wednesday, July 8, 2020. Hospitals and health care workers across the city are dealing with
Photo: Bob Owen /San Antonio Express-News
Jerry Canedo, 57, has his temperature checked by Irene Martin as she checks on his vitals at University Hospital on Wednesday, July 8, 2020. Hospitals and health care workers across the city are dealing with the rapid surge of COVID-19 patients.
Jerry Canedo, 57, has his temperature checked by Irene Martin as she checks on his vitals at University Hospital on Wednesday, July 8, 2020. Hospitals and health care workers across the city are dealing with
Photo: Bob Owen /San Antonio Express-News
This article will be updated throughout the week with coronavirus case counts and other need-to-know information about the pandemic in San Antonio.
August 9
COVID-19 update: Thirteen more people have died of COVID-19 in Bexar County, a tally that includes lives lost over the last month and that brings the death toll since the start of the pandemic to 445, the Metropolitan Health District reported Sunday.
Early childhood education: The pandemic has exposed the vulnerability of the nation’s early childhood education system, which already operated on razor-thin margins. The virus only served to further erode a network that doesn’t just provide working parents with a safe place to put their children during the day.
August 8
COVID-19 update: Bexar County has 232 new cases of novel coronavirus, Metro Health reported Saturday, increasing the total to 42,531 in the six months since the pandemic took hold in San Antonio. There were 10 deaths reported over several days’ time, moving the total death count in Bexar County from COVID-19 to 432. Hospital numbers continued to improve, however; there were 743 people with the virus in San Antonio hospitals, down from 770 Friday. That’s five straight days of fewer people with the disease hospitalized.
August 7
COVID-19 update: Nirenberg said there were fewer people with the virus in San Antonio hospitals, 770 on Friday, down from 801 Thursday. And there were fewer in intensive care, too, 339 down from 345 Thursday, and 231 on ventilators, down from 238 Thursday. Bexar County saw 360 new cases of novel coronavirus Friday and 16 more deaths, but Mayor Nirenberg said some of the deaths date back to July 14.
S.A. school guidance: Only children with special needs, those who are deemed at-risk and students without resources to conduct their studies at home should go into schools and in extremely limited capacities as districts start their fall semester this month amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to guidance issued Friday by Dr. Junda Woo, medical director of the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District.
August 6
COVID-19 update: The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Bexar County continues to rise at a moderate rate, with Mayor Ron Nirenberg reporting 325 new cases Thursday. So far, 41,939 people have tested positive for the virus. The number of deaths soared to 406, after 12 new deaths were reported Thursday, including four residents of the Landing at Stone Oaks senior living facility who died over the last two weeks.
COVID-19 in the classroom: A recent study from researchers at the University of Texas at Austin highlights the COVID-19 risks as schools reopen. The researchers estimated the likelihood of a person carrying the virus showing up to school on the first day of class. At a school in Bexar County with 1,000 people, at least 15 students or staff would be expected to show up infected with the virus.
Texas Bars: The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission has decided to give properties that were classified as bars but that also serve food the chance to reclassify the business as a restaurant. The decision will allow many to reopen their dining rooms after being forced to close them again June 26 by Gov. Gregg Abbott.
Gov. warns of massive health emergency: Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday urged Texans to get flu vaccines early and take action to protect themselves to avoid overburdening already-strained Texas hospitals dealing with the pandemic.
“With a flu season that could be prolific, if that leads to greater hospitalizations, coupled with the hospitalizations they’re seeing for COVID-19, you could easily see how hospitals in this region as well as across Texas will be completely overrun with an inability for hospitals to take care of the medical needs of everybody in the entire region,” Abbott said in an appearance at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.
Infant cases double in area county: Nueces County has reported that their infant cases of COVID-19 has nearly doubled since mid-July, public health officials said. Since the start of the pandemic to the second week of July, Nueces County recorded 85 cases of COVID-19 in infants below the age of 2. From mid-July the county said they have seen the number jump to 167 positive cases.
August 5th
Town hall sheds light on school year ahead: The city of San Antonio is creating zones based on health data that decide when and how students go back to school: red being the worst, yellow and green.
“We know realistically as educators, a lot of these things are going to be difficult to enforce,” Natalie Clifford, an educator and the high school director of the Harlandale Education Association said during the city’s town hall on school reopenings.
Hundreds of new cases reported: Mayor Ron Nirenberg reported 14 more deaths from COVID-19 on Wednesday. But new cases in San Antonio continued to hover in a relatively low range, with 340 new infections reported — a hopeful trend also reflected in fewer hospitalizations.
