San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
With virus surging, officials host giveaway for PPE, testing
Event held amid influx of cases, with 17,800 active infections in S.A.
San Antonians started lining up early Saturday outside St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church on the Southeast Side, eager to get tested for the coronavirus.
After getting tested, many of the residents received masks and hand sanitizer, as well as groceries from the San Antonio Food Bank.
State Rep. Liz Campos, D-San Antonio, one of the community event organizers, thought it was important to schedule the event after the holidays, to account for the many people who ignored health officials’ advice and gathered in large family groups anyway, possibly contracting the virus and contributing to the surge.
Campos hopes people will get tested and find out if they’re positive before they develop symptoms so they can self-isolate and help slow the spread of the virus that has claimed the lives of more than 1,700 San Antonians.
“The more people that can get tested, the better,” Campos said, adding that 191 people were tested at the Saturday event.
Vivian Padilla, 45, was one of the residents who got tested Saturday, along with her 13- and 10-year-old sons. The boys get tested regularly at their respective schools in East Central School District, she said. But she doesn’t get tested at her work and there have been “a lot of cases,” she said.
There has been an influx of cases across the city, with an estimated 17,800 active cases, according to Metro Health.
Padilla was persuaded by her 71-year-old mother to get tested. She described the experience as “fast” and “simple.”
“We’re in the middle of a community that’s in need of testing, in need of PPE — masks, sanitizers,” Judge Rosie Speedlin
González said. “We all know that this COVID is affecting the community in a very disparate way. Low-income people of color have a higher incidence of contagion, so I think we’re right where we need to be.”
The Food Bank brought food to feed about 400 families, according to the organization’s market coordinator, Kelly Figueroa. However, there was a lower turnout than expected, and Figueroa estimated about 200 families would receive groceries.
“You see a low turnout, I think that people have in their mind that the vaccine’s out there, that it’s around the corner. And the reality is, for most people it’s not,” said Frank Fuentes, the chairman of the San Antonio-based U.S. Hispanic Contractors Association.
“It’s important to not only continue the protocols but to continue testing,” Fuentes added, encouraging residents to continue wearing their masks, maintaining social distance of at least 6 feet from people not of the same household and washing hands frequently.
The event was organized by Campos, Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff, Precinct 4 Commissioner Tommy Calvert and the contractors association. In addition to Speedlin González, County Clerk Lucy AdameClark and Precinct 4 Constable Kathryn Brown also were at the event.