Virus cases up, but outlook bright
Spring break ‘bump’ eyed, but more shots given
The number of coronavirus cases was up Thursday, and three new deaths were reported as well, but Mayor Ron Nirenberg saw reason for optimism, saying recent trends have been “promising.”
The San Antonio Metropolitan Health District reported 210 new coronavirus cases and three new deaths Thursday in Bexar County. That was up from Wednesday’s mark of 132 new cases.
The latest statistics pushed
the overall number of coronavirus cases here since the pandemic began to 203,191.
The latest deaths reported Thursday brought Bexar County’s toll to 3,076. The number of new cases was above the sevenday rolling average of 179 per day.
But the number of Bexar County residents who’ve received at least one dose of vaccine, 434,611, was more than twice the number of coronavirus cases confirmed in the past year in the county, Nirenberg noted. Another 243,317 had gotten their second dose by Thursday.
“And I believe we are in position to put this thing behind us once and for all if we can get more people vaccinated quickly. And for that we need more federal and state cooperation,” he said.
On Thursday, 188 COVID-19 patients were in San Antonio hospitals, compared with 1,400 at the height of last winter’s brutal surge. Of those, 69 were in intensive care units and 39 on ventilators to help them breathe.
“I’m optimistic,” Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff said Thursday. “They vary a little bit from day to day but overall we’re do
ing very well.
“We may have a bump up after spring break, but I don’t think we’re going to have any big surge again,” he said. “The key is we’ve got to get shots in the arms as fast as we can.”
Across the nation, 542,584 deaths have been recorded, up by 1,287 from the day before, but fatalities have been on a steadily downward trend over the past 30 days, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There have been 29.8 million cases nationwide.
In Texas, 2.8 million coronavirus cases have been recorded along with 47,703 deaths, according to the city of San Antonio.
The deaths reported Thursday were of a Hispanic man in his 40s, a woman in her 50s and an Asian man in his 60s.
In Comal County, authorities reported 45 additional COVID cases Thursday, 24 of which were new and another 21 that were backlogged. The county’s total number of cases now stands at 9,636.