The number of other people hospitalized in Bexar County with coronavirus infections, however, has declined to return to what it was at the beginning of the summer wave.
On Friday, hospitals reported 520 coVID-19 patients. On June 23, there were 518. Within days, hospitalizations doubled to more than 1,000.
Judge Nelson Wolff of Bexar County made the comparison Friday at the city and county briefing to point out a point: in a matter of days, the highest hospitalizations after the rest of the house remain restrictions in May, but it took two months to reduce them.
“Just that. We can’t let our guard down because this thing moves temporarily and furiously, and it’s deadly,” Wolff said.
To underline the message, the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission temporarily suspended the Liquor License from Well Restaurant, 5539 UTSA Blvd., following court cases over a giant crowd and inadequate social estrangement. The agency’s emergency order, which was delivered Friday, prohibits the sale of alcohol to The Well for 30 days.
The well had been reclassified across the state as a place to eat when TABC obtained data that the company was allowing giant crowds to gather. Under Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order, places to eat will have to make sure teams are limited to 10 people or less, at least 6 feet away between separate teams.
San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg said he was not surprised by the suspension.
“We will also be proactive in doing what we can at the local level,” he said. “Actually, the message is for consumers more than anything. Array.. If you like to move to a place, do them doing them doing your part, dressing in a mask and physically distancing yourself from everything they seek to do to serve you safely. “
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Wolff thanked TABC for taking action from The Well.
“It’s kind of a task to verify something like this, and get the state to intervene and be stronger, it’s helping us a lot,” Wolff said.
Nirenberg said COVID-19 instances in Bexar County showed higher levels between Friday and 173. In addition, 21 deaths were reported or verified from state records.
The total number of other people who have now tested positive for coronavirus is 44814, of which approximately 4520 are active.
The death toll rose to 698. The 21 deaths reported on Friday come with 10 in the past counted across the state, dating back to July 22. Health officials continue to reconcile the differences between state and local figures. Another 258 deaths in the state database are awaiting verification through the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District.
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On Friday, Metro Health and the Texas Biomedical Research Institute joined Nirenberg and Wolff to discuss ongoing vaccine studies. There are 165 vaccines in development, 32 in clinical trials, 8 in giant Phase 3 trials and two approved in China and Russia that will require additional studies, he said.
Metro Health is developing a vaccine distribution plan that is likely to target those most at risk, as well as workers, such as physical care and child care providers and transit employees.
Metro Health’s deputy director, Jennifer Herriott, said San Antonio will need to continue to “pay attention to rules, social estrangement, masking, hygiene; it’s important.”
“We can’t take our foot off the accelerator,” he says. “Every time our numbers start to pass on, I think other people start to feel a little more comfortable, and we just can’t do that. People want to stay home.”
A full list of COVID-19 test sites can be found at covid19.sanantonio.gov.
For more information, call 311 or the city’s COVID-19 hotline, 210-207-5779, or email [email protected].
Scott Huddleston covers the Bexar County government and alamo for the San Antonio Express-News. To be more informed about Scott, a subscriber. [email protected] Twitter: @shuddlestonSA
Scott Huddleston is a veteran editor of the San Antonio Express-News, which covers the Bexar County Court of Commissioners and the county government.
He has been a journalist for the Express-News since 1985, covering various topics, adding public safety, flooding, transportation, military and veterans affairs, history and local government.
Huddleston covered the final phase of the SBC Center structure, now at the T Center, where the Spurs play, in 2002, and wrote “Then-Now,” a former weekly feature film, for the 2001-2006 Sunday Metro section.