Caseload records are shattered

Hospitals in Bexar County now are caring for more coronavirus patients than at any other point in the pandemic as the virus continues its winter assault, breaking records for new cases and daily hospital admissions.

The number of COVID-19 patients in local hospitals grew to 1,318 Tuesday — surpassing the peak of 1,267 reached July 13 amid the summer surge of the virus.

At the same time, the San Antonio region added a record 2,152 new cases of the virus — shattering a record set only two days previously on Sunday when 1,997 new cases were reported.

That, in turn, broke the previous record of 1,717 set Dec. 22.

Bexar County now has had 124,800 cases since the pandemic began in March

— nearly a quarter of those have been added within the past month. The seven-day daily average of new cases grew to 1,457 from 1,259 Monday.

City and county leaders warned residents to expect the situation to worsen over the next three weeks as the area witnesses the results of gatherings over the Christmas and New Year’s holiday weekends.

“We have a considerable ways to go to get our arms around this pandemic,” Mayor Ron Nirenberg said at the daily city-county coronavirus briefing.

Dr. Junda Woo, Metro Health medical director, offered a grim assessment of the situation.

“The part that makes me very sad is that, after this, in one or two weeks, we will start to see the deaths piling up, too,” Woo said.

In just the last week, Metro Health has confirmed the deaths of more than 50 people with the virus — and they’re not all elders.

Of the five reported deceased Tuesday, four were younger than 50: a Hispanic woman in her 20s, a Hispanic man in his 30s and two Hispanic men in their 40s. The fifth was an Anglo man in his 90s.

The local death toll from the virus now stands at 1,574.

“Too many lives are cut short due to this pandemic,” Nirenberg said. “Please keep their friends and families in your prayers.”

Increasing stress

Local hospitals have been under increasing strain as severe cases of the disease mount. COVID-19 hospitalizations have more than doubled in the past 30 days. More than a third of the county’s total hospital patients are infected with COVID-19.

Over the past 24 hours, 181 coronavirus patients were newly admitted to local hospitals — a record since officials began tracking hospital admissions.

The number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care grew by 8 percent Tuesday to 369 from 342 the previous day. Hospitals had about 42 ICU beds as of Tuesday afternoon, Nirenberg said. Those on ventilators to help them breathe dipped slightly from 186 Monday to 185 Tuesday.

Local hospitals already have taken steps to preserve space for COVID-19 patients as this surge worsens, but leaders warned of a possible breaking point.

“They are pushing it to the very edge of capacity,” Nirenberg said.

“They can’t be pushed much further.”

Trauma patients who otherwise would have been treated at to University Hospital have been directed to Brooke Army Medical Center to free up space for coronavirus patients who need intensive care.

University Health closed its rehabilitation unit to convert rooms there for COVID-19 patients and is moving noncoronavirus patients into its diagnostic center to make room for those who are sick with the virus, Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff said.

The county hospital system also has suspended elective surgeries, he said.

El Paso’s turn

It’s possible that San Antonio could wind up transferring COVID-19 patients to El Paso — just as the border city sent patients here when it underwent a crushing wave of the virus in the fall. Already, one patient has been sent there, Wolff said.

Doing so “may end up being another safety valve for us,” Wolff said.

Bexar County will get another 8,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine within the week, Wolff said. Local health leaders are trying to sort through conflicting state and federal guidelines over who is allowed to receive the vaccine under the next phase of distribution — known as 1B.

Metro Health should have a set of “hybrid” guidelines to give local residents some idea of where they are in line by the end of the week, Woo said. But she cautioned that it will take time to administer the vaccine to everyone, given the limited supplies that are arriving.