Wolff tests negative for virus

Metropolitan Health District documents 238 newcases but no deaths

The number of coronavirus cases in Bexar County grew by 238 Saturday, but County Judge Nelson Wolff was not among them.

That was cause for relief for Wolff, whowent into self-quarantine Thursday after what he described as a “mild exposure” to a county employeewho had tested positive for COVID-19.

Wolff, who said he had no symptoms, submitted to two tests — one by Curative, a California company that does rapid mass testing for COVID-19, and Community Labs, a San Antonio nonprofit established recently for the same purpose.

On Saturday, the judge learned the results of both tests: negative.

Wolff “wishes to thank everyone who called, emailed and reached out to him and his office for their well wishes and concern,” a county statement said.

With the 238 newcases reported Saturday by the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District, the area’s total case count since the start of the pandemic reached 67,365.

The seven-day rolling average of new cases dropped slightly — to 213 per day. On Friday, the average stood at 218.

The closely watched metric has been climbing steadily, raising concern about a possible second surge of the virus. Lastweek, the seven-day average stood at 200 cases per day. A month ago, it was 135.

“Our COVID numbers are higher thanwewant them to be,” Mayor Ron Nirenberg said. “The coronavirus will be with us for a long time. Keep wearing masks and maintaining social distance. These are our best tools for fighting COVID until we get a vaccine.”

No new deaths were reported Saturday, leaving Bexar County’s fatality toll at 1,273. Metro Health is investigating an additional 152 deaths recorded by the state.

San Antonio hospitals were treating 261 coronavirus patients Saturday — four more than on Friday.

Of the total, 107 were in intensive care, four fewer than the previous day, and 39 were on ventilators, down13 from Friday.

The virus is currently in a “modest and steady upward

trend” in Bexar County, said interim Metro Health Director Colleen Bridger.

Alittle over a month ago, the percentage of COVID-19 tests that turned out positive had dropped below 5 percent, a sign that the spread of the virus was under control. But the rate has increased steadily since then and stood at 7.7 percent last week.

At the height of the July surge, the positive rate reached a peak of 24.2 percent.