Bexar County's 29 Coronavirus Cases Classified By Mode of Transmission
March 21, 2020 - San Antonio
Self-isolation nation. Friday night, Bexar County’s number of COVID-19 positive cases rose to 29. “I am concerned that there are still some folks that are not taking this seriously,” said San Antonio City Councilwoman Adriana Rocha Garcia. Photo: Jade Esteban Estrada.
By Jade Esteban Estrada - Staff Writer, San Antonio Sentinel
In the midst of the coronavirus crisis, the City of San Antonio and Bexar County are diligently working to continue providing services and ongoing resources to the public. Among these services is the City's COVID-19 update, which lists the number of new cases on their website every day at noon.
Late Friday evening, Bexar County reported 29 confirmed coronavirus cases. On the state level, the Texas Department of State Health Services reported a total of 194 confirmed COVID-19 cases among 32 counties and five deaths as of March 20 at noon.
Although the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District’s lab processes tests for 29 counties, only Bexar County cases are counted in San Antonio’s total number of infections.
On Wednesday, the Metro Health lab reported 29 positive cases. However, as a result of contact tracing, three cases were identified to be non-Bexar County residents and were removed from that day’s total count.
Thursday night, the Metro Health lab reported one new positive case after processing 69 tests. Two additional positive cases were received by the Health Department from a private lab. These three new diagnoses brought the total number of cases in Bexar County back to 29.
RELATED: Latest COVID-19 Emergency Declaration Prohibits Gatherings of 50 People or More
(Left to right: San Antonio City Council members John Courage, Manny Pelaez, Adriana Rocha Garcia, Roberto Treviño, San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar) District 4 San Antonio City Councilwoman Adriana Rocha Garcia speaks to a large crowd at last year’s Raul Jimenez Thanksgiving Dinner. “Washing your hands, coughing into your elbow, staying away from crowds…all these messaging components are important to keep drilling, specifically to those who don’t have Internet access.” she said earlier this week. Photo: Jade Esteban Estrada.
These cases are categorized: 13 cases are related to travel; four are close contacts of previously diagnosed cases; eight were through community transmission; and four are currently under investigation.
Metro Health is now classifying cases by age range and gender. There are presently 18 patients who are male and 11 who are female. The highest number of infections (31 percent) were found in people between 40 and 49 years of age. The age groups 20 to 29, 30 to 39 and 70 to 79 each resulted in 14 percent while the age groups 0 to 19 and 60 to 69 each attributed to ten percent. People age 50 to 59 accounted for seven percent of the county’s positive cases.
Until the outbreak can be contained in the United States, health experts agree that prevention through self-isolation and social distancing is paramount. For a coronavirus cautionary tale for all nations, one need not look further than Italy, which surpassed China in number of COVID-19 deaths this week.
“I’m actually of the idea that the more we do now to prevent [the spread of the COVID-19 virus], the better off we will be,” said District 4 San Antonio City Councilwoman Adriana Rocha Garcia in an interview this week at Plaza de Armas. Lackland Air Force Base, one of the four U.S. military bases that was selected as a quarantine site for repatriated American citizens from China and two Princess cruise ships, is nestled in her Southwest district.
RELATED: San Antonio’s Third Travel-Related Coronavirus Positive Case Confirmed
On Thursday, Rocha Garcia and her council colleagues voted to extend the Mayor Ron Nirenberg’s fourth public health emergency declaration through April 18.
“We have been making preparations and implementing prevention efforts over the last two months as the global COVID-19 pandemic continued to grow,” said Nirenberg. “We are now are entering the most difficult phase in the rapidly-changing battle against this virus and we must stay the course.”
Officials on the county level continue to err on the side of caution. On Thursday, Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff issued an executive order that was effective that night. The order reduces public gatherings to ten people or less, suspends evictions for rental property owners for the next 30 days, suspends foreclosure proceedings for the next 30 days, and addresses price gouging and its associated penalties.
“I think folks don’t realize the magnitude of something like this happening until it gets closer to home,” said Rocha Garcia. “We don’t have the luxury to wait.”
Jade Esteban Estrada is a staff writer at the San Antonio Sentinel, where he covers public health and other citywide issues. He can be reached at jade@sasentinel.com.