By Madison Iszler STAFF WRITER
The coronavirus continued its unabated spread through the area Sunday, as Bexar County reported 198 new cases and eight new deaths, the highest death count since the start of the pandemic.
The rising number of deaths follows five others that were reported Saturday. The victims Sunday were two Hispanic males and one Hispanic female in their 50s, two Hispanic males and two Hispanic females in their 60s, and one Hispanic male who was 19 or younger.
The youngest victim had an underlying genetic disorder. The others had underlying medical conditions, city spokeswoman Laura Mayes said.
The pandemic has now killed 130 people in Bexar County since the first cases began to show up here in March.
“When we report these facts, for our community, they aren’t numbers. They’re people,” Mayor Ron Nirenberg said in a video on Twitter. “Mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, cousins, grandmothers and grandfathers, aunts and uncles, best friends and co-workers, loved ones and neighbors, San Antonians young and old. Gone.”
The confirmed new cases brought the county’s total to14,751, the Metropolitan Health District reported. Some 5,766 people have recovered and 8,855 are still ill.
A total of 1,142 COVID-19 patients were in county hospitals Sunday, up from 802 a week ago. Of those patients, 365 were in intensive care and 197 on ventilators.
A mere10 percent of the region’s staffed hospital beds remained available Sunday. The rise of hospitalizations in the region is growing at a faster rate than in other major Texas cities and is straining area hospitals, which are rushing to add new beds and reconfigure rooms for patients.
“With our hospitals approaching capacity, it’s difficult to imagine that tonight will be the last time we report another life lost to COVID-19 in San Antonio,” Nirenberg said. “That reality is beyond harrowing; it’s gut-wrenching, it’s morbid, it’s cruel.”
Officials also announced that city sites will only test people experiencing symptoms starting today.
All testing sites overseen by the city will require people to have coronavirus symptoms in order to be tested. Those locations include the Freeman Coliseum and two new sites at Kazen Middle School and Cuellar Community Center.
“Taking a COVID-19 test will give you results from a moment in time. A person who has been exposed to the virus needs to quarantine for14 days from that exposure regardless of a negative COVID-19 test,” said Assistant City Manager Dr. Colleen Bridger, who also is interim director of Metro Health. “If you have insurance, please contact your health care provider to seek a test. The no-cost testing sites are intended to bring access to those who may not have insurance or a primary health care provider.”
In his video statement Sunday, Nirenberg again implored residents to stay home, wear a mask if going out and wash their hands.
Heading into the Fourth of July weekend, officials and hospital chiefs urged residents to take those precautions to prevent a new wave of infections. Many public fireworks displays were canceled, and Nirenberg and County Judge Nelson Wolff ordered city and county parks closed.
Gov. Greg Abbott signed an order Thursday requiring nearly all Texans to wear masks when in public. City and county officials had pushed for the measure, but Abbott previously stripped them of the ability to enforce their own mask mandates.
Abbott’s order, which took effect Friday, does not apply to children under 10 or to people traveling in a vehicle with family members, attending worship services, dining in a restaurant, exercising or swimming.
People voting or administering elections and people with a medical condition that prevents them from wearing a mask are also exempted. The order does apply to people participating in political protests.
First-time offenders will receive a warning, and repeat violators could be fined up to $250.
Abbott also recently closed bars and tubing and rafting outfitters, delayed elective surgeries in hard-hit counties and paused additional reopenings.
Statewide, Texas officials reported 3,449 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, the lowest single-day total in nearly two weeks.
There were 8,258 new cases the day before, the most Texas has reported in one day since the beginning of the pandemic. State officials also reported 29 new deaths Sunday, down from 33 the previous day. madison.iszler