1 local hospital patient in 6 has COVID-19.

San Antonio officials reported 992 new coronavirus cases Saturday as the virus continued its surge, increasing the burden on the region’s hospitals.

No new deaths were reported, leaving Bexar County’s COVID-19 fatality toll at 1,418.

As of Saturday, about one in every six patients in area hospitals was being treated for the virus, the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District reported.

That works out to 697 COVID-19 patients, a slight drop from Friday, when the number was 716. Still, the patient load has risen sharply during the current surge. A week ago, 576 people were hospitalized with the virus. In mid-October, the number was below 200.

Of those in hospitals Saturday, 75 had been admitted within the previous 24 hours.

“COVID continues to infect people across our community at an alarming rate,” Mayor Ron Nirenberg said in a statement. “To prevent our hospitals from being overwhelmed, we must stay focused on prevention. Wear a mask, keep our distance from people who don’t live in our household and avoid large social gatherings.”

The 992 new infections brought the county’s total to 93,476 since the start of the pandemic in March. That’s 4.7 percent of Bexar County’s population.

As of Saturday, 238 coronavirus patients were in intensive care, 15 more than the day before. Some 125 patients needed ventilators to breathe, an increase of 10 compared to Friday.

The federal government is to begin shipping doses of a new COVID-19 vaccine to San Antonio and

other cities next week. Doctors, nurses and other medical personnel and residents and staff of nursing homes will be first in line for vaccination.

“There is light at the end of the tunnel, but we have to make it to the other side first,” Nirenberg said on Twitter. “It could take several months before this vaccine is widely available. We can't let our guard down now, San Antonio.”

Bexar County's 7-day rolling average of new cases climbed to 1,073 cases per day on Saturday. The rolling average evens out day-to-day fluctuations in case counts to provide a clearer picture of the virus' spread. On Friday, the average stood at 1,030 cases per day. A month ago, it was 300.

The 7-day average is now at its highest level since the July surge, when more than 1,000 people were hospitalized with the virus in San Antonio.

At that time, 20.1 percent of all coronavirus tests came back positive, indicative of uncontrolled spread. The positivity rate dropped as the summer surge eased, and by early October it had fallen below 5 percent. But it has been climbing rapidly this month.

Last Monday, the rate reached 15.7 percent, an increase of 6.5 percentage points over the week before.

The city has a dozen walk-up locations where residents can be tested for free. The centers will be closed on Dec. 24 and 25 for Christmas and on New Year's Day. To find the locations and get more information about testing, visit COVID19.SanAntonio.gov.

For charts and graphics showing the course of the pandemic in San Antonio, go to ExpressNews.com /covidtracking.

Josie Norris / Staff photographer Sylvia Oualline washes her hands as she runs rapid COVID-19 tests at Methodist Healthcare System in the South Texas Medical Center on June 3.