» COVID hospitalizations in San Antonio increase ahead of vaccine arrival.
City’s rolling average of new cases at 1,021
One day before the expected arrival of thousands of doses of a newly approved vaccine, San Antonio's hospitals admitted dozens of new COVID-19 patients Sunday, as the weeks-long surge in daily case numbers continued.
The seven-day rolling average of new cases now stands at 1,021. The average has more than doubled in the past three weeks.
Officials reported 655 new coronavirus cases and 51 backlogged cases Sunday, bringing Bexar County's total infections since March to 94,182.
There were no new deaths, but officials added 11 backlogged deaths from more than two weeks ago. Since the pandemic began, 1,429 San Antonians have died from COVID-19.
“The beginning of vaccine distribution around the nation is great news, but we can't relax yet,” Mayor Ron Nirenberg said in a statement. “We must continue our efforts to protect each other and ourselves from the virus because the wait for vaccination will be several months for most of us.”
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted emergency approval for BioNTech and Pfizer's coronavirus vaccines Friday. Bexar County will receive more than 28,000 doses starting today, and vaccinations could begin
Tuesday.
The vaccine will be reserved for front-line health care workers at first, with other groups considered most at-risk to follow.
On Thursday, Nirenberg and County Judge Nelson Wolff sent a letter to Gov. Greg Abbott asking that teachers be included in the two top-priority tiers.
In an effort to more quickly identify cases, school districts have boosted testing for students and staff, and so has the city. San Antonio’s testing sites have tested more than 217,000 people in the past seven weeks, more than the total from the previous 16 weeks combined — and that doesn’t include tests conducted by private providers.
But more widespread testing is not necessarily the reason for the ongoing surge in daily case numbers. Bexar County’s test positivity rate has been climbing steadily since early October.
Last Monday, Metro Health reported the positivity rate had jumped 6.5 percentage points to 15.7 percent, the greatest increase from one week to the next since mid-June, raising concerns that area hospitals soon could become overwhelmed.
Officials reported 73 new admissions Sunday, bringing the total number of coronavirus patients up to 705, an increase from 697 on Saturday.
The percentage of hospital patients in the city infected with COVID-19 has reached 18 percent, nearly double what it was a month ago.
There are 234 coronavirus patients in intensive care, a slight decrease from 238 Saturday, and 129 patients using ventilators to help them breathe, up from 125 Saturday.
In nightly coronavirus briefings, Nirenberg has stressed the importance of avoiding large gatherings, wearing masks and practicing physical distancing in the effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Getting tested also helps, as it can get asymptomatic people to go into quarantine earlier.
A list of testing locations can be found on the city’s coronavirus website. Cityrun testing sites will be closed on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.