COVID-19 level in Bexar County drops to moderate

SAN ANTONIO (KTSA News) –  The local risk level for COVID-19 has been downgraded from steady to moderate and the number of hospitalized patients continues to decline.  The doubling time has increased to 40 days, which means it takes 40 days for the number of coronavirus cases to double.

“It’s taken a Herculean effort on everyone’s part to get these numbers to start moving in the right direction, and it seems like it was as slow as molasses to get to that point,” said Mayor Ron Nirenberg.

The 7-day daily average of new cases has dropped to 166, but there is one major indicator that’s troubling to local health officials.  It’s the positivity rate, which is the percentage of people who are positive for the virus out of all who have been tested.  The positivity rate is at 11.3 percent–far from the goal of 5 percent, which Metro Health officials have said would be the sign that students can return to schools for in-person instruction.

“That means there is a fire smoldering outside and if we add kindling to it, it can get out of control,” said Nirenberg.

He’s urging area residents not to let their guard down, especially during the upcoming Labor Day weekend.

Seventy new coronavirus cases were reported Monday, which brings the total to 44, 122 since March.   Nineteen more residents have succumbed to the virus, bringing the local death toll to 617.

The number of coronavirus patients in local hospitals stands at 603.  Of those, 267 were in ICU and 188 were using ventilators.  That leaves 18 percent of staffed hospital beds available.