Nine more deaths as cases mount

With virus expanding its foothold, Nirenberg says that if you have no need to travel, ‘don’t’

The number of COVID-19 cases in Bexar County increased by 535 Saturday and local officials reported nine new deaths, but stress on local hospitals eased slightly.

The total number of people who have tested positive for COVID-19

in Bexar County stood at 19,137, according to figures released by Metro Health.

Still, two-thirds of people who have tested positive for the virus remain infected.

“COVID-19 has a foothold in our community,” Mayor Ron Nirenberg said in a social media post Saturday. “Wear a mask. Wash your hands. Practice physical distancing. If you have no need to travel to a public space, don’t.”

Officials reported 1,221 people with COVID-19 are in the hospital, 19 fewer patients than on Friday.

There are, of course, people in the hospital for many other reasons; so, in all, 422 staffed beds were available Saturday, which is 11 percent of total capacity in Bexar County hospitals. That was up from 10 percent reported Friday.

Of those hospitalized, 401 were in intensive care, a decrease of 15 patients from the day prior, and 249 patients were using ventilators to breathe, one more than Friday.

The trend toward younger people dying with the novel coronavirus continued. Two of the deaths Saturday were Hispanic men in their 40s, and another was a Hispanic woman in her 40s.

Two Hispanic women, one Hispanic man and one white man all in their 60s also died with COVID-19.

The city reported two other deaths, a white man in his 90s and a Hispanic man in his 80s.

All nine had underlying medical conditions, city officials said.

The death toll in Bexar County is at 175.

“We cannot let up now,” Nirenberg said. “Please be safe this weekend, San Antonio. You just might save someone’s life.”

The city received 29 calls Saturday, reporting violations of coro

navirus restrictions. Two citations were issued at Highlanders Bar and Grill along Fredericksburg Road, one to the restaurant owner and another to a person who was not wearing a mask.

Out of more than 8,400 calls for enforcement related to the local emergency order, the city has issued 87 citations.

More than half of the novel coronavirus cases reported in Bexar County have been among people younger than 40.

In neighboring Comal

County, the trend also has been toward younger people testing positive for the deadly virus.

Officials reported 37 new cases Saturday, of which seven are younger than 30 and 19 are in their 30s or 40s.

There was one more death reported; a Hispanic woman in her 90s who had been a resident of Kirkwood Manor in New Braunfels.

Statewide, Texas officials listed 10,351 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, the most the state has reported in a single day since the onset of the pandemic.

Hospitalizations have doubled in Texas over the last 15 days; 10,083 patients with COVID-19 were in hospitals Saturday, up 81 from Friday.

Across the state, health officials reported 99 new deaths. Over the last week, 504 people have died from COVID-19 in Texas, the state’s deadliest week of the pandemic so far.