City still offering aid for rent, gas, food
Over 20,000 residents have been helped since the pandemic struck
More than 20,000 San Antonians have received help from the city with rent or mortgage payments since the coronavirus caused a wave of job losses. And assistance is still available.
“We still have assistance for those that have been impacted by the pandemic,” said Vero Soto, director of the city’s Neighborhood and Housing Services Department. She spoke Tuesday at the daily city-county briefing on the COVID-19 pandemic.
For approved applicants, the city program makes rent or mortgage payments directly to the landlord or creditor for two consecutive months. Cash assistance is available for the third month if needed, Soto said.
Those with lower incomes also are eligible for two months of assistance to pay utility and internet bills, as well as up to $300 in cash for gas and groceries.
“We also are concerned about those facing eviction,” Soto said. “If you do receive a notice to vacate, that does not mean you have to leave.”
An eviction notice is just the first step in the process, she explained. The landlord still must file an eviction case in court.
If a tenant receives a notice of a court hearing, they should attend and show that they have filed a declaration to qualify for the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s eviction moratorium.
The CDC issued an order Sept. 4 temporarily halting evictions to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The order is in effect until Dec. 31.
The declaration covers those who were unable to pay rent due to either income loss or medical
expenses related to the pandemic. Tenants with an income below $99,000 are eligible. Tenants have to demonstrate that if evicted, they would become homeless or would have to move into a new residence with others.
The order does not mean tenants can stop paying rent. “You still have obligations,” Soto said, “but you cannot be evicted.”
To apply for rental or mortgage assistance and to find resources on evictions, go to covid19.sanantonio.gov/ Services.
For information on Bexar County’s temporary rental assistance program, go to bexar.org/3265/Temporary-Rental-AssistanceMeasure.
Latest COVID numbers
The San Antonio Metropolitan Health District reported 168 new coronavirus cases Tuesday — 70 more than the day before.
No new deaths were reported, leaving Bexar County’s COVID-19 fatality toll at 1,230.
The seven-day rolling average of new cases dropped slightly, from 159 to 158 per day.
Since the start of the pandemic, 63,594 Bexar County residents have tested positive for the coronavirus.
San Antonio hospitals were treating 189 COVID-19 patients as of Tuesday — four fewer than the previous day. Ninety-one were in intensive care, an increase of seven from Monday, and 42 were on ventilators, six more than the day before.
The pressure on the hospital system has eased significantly since the July surge, when the number of patients stayed above 1,000 for weeks on end — with a
peak of 1,267 on July 13. For most of that month, more than 400 patients were in intensive care units on any given day and as many as 294 required ventilators to breathe.
Area report
Comal County reported 17 new cases Tuesday and no deaths.
Since the start of the pandemic in March, 3,659 Comal County residents have contracted the virus and 120 have died.
Of more than 27,000 tests conducted in the
county during the pandemic, about 13.4 percent were positive. However, the positivity rate for the most recent seven-day period stood at 6.7 percent as of Tuesday.
Of those infected, 94 percent have recovered, officials said.
Comal County hospitals were caring for five coronavirus patients Tuesday, including one in intensive care and one on a ventilator.