San Antonio and Bexar County officials to hold update on COVID-19 as conditions worsen

SAINT ANTHONY – With COVID-19 numbers going in the wrong direction, San Antonio and Bexar County officials will hold a briefing at 2 p.m. on Friday.

The press conference, which features San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff, will be televised live in this article.

Hospitals in Bexar County are seeing an influx of COVID-19 patients amid the spread of the delta variant, a more transmissible strain of the virus. Hospitals in the region reported 294 hospitalizations related to COVID-19 on Friday. Five weeks ago, the average number of coronavirus hospitalizations stood at 123.

County figures also show a worrying increase in the positivity rate, the percentage of weekly COVID-19 tests that come back positive for the virus. The county’s positivity rate hit 13.5% on Monday. A month ago it was 3.8%.

COVID-19 conditions are not just getting worse in San Antonio, but across the state of Texas, where the positivity rate reached 10.2% for the first time since February.

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Medical experts say COVID-19 vaccines are still the best way to reduce the risk of infection and prevent serious illness or hospitalization.

In San Antonio, about 65% of adults are fully immunized, but statewide that number drops to about 51%, according to the latest state data.

The Texas Department of State Health Services said the variant “has a significant effect on unvaccinated people, leading to an increase in the number of new cases and hospitalizations.”

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