Easter Camping in Parks Will Be Prohibited; COVID-19 Case Count Shoots to 140

March 29, 2020 - San Antonio

By Jade Esteban Estrada - Staff Writer, San Antonio Sentinel

Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff began their Saturday night COVID-19 briefing with the news that San Antonio now has 140 confirmed coronavirus cases, a twenty-case increase from yesterday’s count. Since Thursday night, the local death toll has remained at five.

Nirenberg also said that San Antonio’s decades-long tradition of Easter camping in the park will not be allowed while the coronavirus continues to be a threat to the public. The latest emergency declaration, which prohibits the use of certain park amenities, like ball courts and playgrounds, is scheduled to expire April 9, three days before the Easter holiday. 

"I want to enjoy more Easters,” he said. “Unfortunately, that’s just one of the traditions we’re going to have to put a pause on because of the spread of this disease.”

Of the 140 cases, 37 patients have symptoms severe enough to require hospitalization. Eleven of these individuals are in intensive care and nine are on ventilators. 

In this breakdown, there are 50 cases related to travel and 46 are community spread. Moving forward, Nirenberg said that everyone should behave as if every person they encounter is COVID-19 positive, as the majority of people with the coronavirus have mild to no symptoms at all. 

There have been 21 close contact cases, and 23 cases remain under investigation.

RELATED: Mayor Nirenberg and Judge Wolff Launch Daily Briefings; 120 Coronavirus Cases Reported

Getting accurate updates on the total number of tests given in Texas has been a challenge for local authorities. In some cases, test results from other facilities have not been coming back in a timely manner, which Wolff feels has been “counterproductive.” Federal labs have been taking anywhere from three to five days to deliver results. The County “is turning [test results] around in less than 24 hours,” he said. “[So] there’s just no excuse for them not to be able to keep up with it and do it right.”

Some private labs were not sending their results to the City at all - “even despite our orders,” said Nirenberg. “[But] we are getting that data now. [Texas Gov. Greg Abbott] put in his own emergency order to make sure that private labs are sharing that data - positive and negative.”

If these changes happen soon, Metro Health’s own surveillance of COVID-19 testing will have a more accurate number of total administered tests. Many health experts feel this could not happen fast enough.

For the first time, the City’s website will also be grouping confirmed infections by zip code, so constituents can stay informed of clusters of positive cases around the city. When asked if the mayor thought information like this might cause unnecessary panic in the community, he replied that he’d rather “err on the side of transparency,” so that citizens can make their own decisions based on information that is coming directly from the Health Department.

As of Saturday night, the zip code that has the highest number of cases (between 9 and 12) is 78209, the Alamo Heights and Terrell Hills area.

The mayor will also be tightening up enforcement of his Stay Home, Work Safe order. Though no citations have been given, the San Antonio Police Department has thus far received 557 complaint calls and has observed 417 violations against the order.

“This is not a drill,” Nirenberg said firmly. “This is not a request. It’s an order. So if necessary, enforcement will continue in severity in order to gain compliance and to save lives.” 

Wolff is confident that Bexar County is prepared to tackle the challenges that may arise over the next few weeks. “As long as we can work hard and stop the spike, I think our hospital system is in good shape,” he said. 

The judge also reported that the preventative measures that are being taken at the Bexar County Adult Detention Center are going smoothly. “Test them when they get in. Test them while they’re there. Test them when they leave,” he said. “Our jail population has gone down to somewhere around 3,200 [inmates] today from a high 4000. Things are working like we want them to work but we’ve got to keep up the diligence.” 

He took a moment to praise the majority of County residents that are adhering to the public health order.

“We’ve seen that this virus is lethal for every age group,” said Nirenberg, who has reached out to younger constituents via social media about the severity of COVID-19. “If we do our jobs [through social distancing and staying home], we’ll get out of these restrictions as quickly as possible.” 

RELATED: City Officials Announce Third COVID-19 Death in San Antonio

Now that the United States has the highest number of coronavirus infections, it is likely that our local case count will continue to rise. Nirenberg, known for being a thoughtful planner, is working on “surge management. We are ready in case we see a rate of infections that exceeds our hospital capacity, he said. “Our job right now is to keep people alive and to make sure that we do flatten the curve.”

Nirenberg believes that there are many lessons that can be learned from the COVID-19 spread in Italy. “There were people traveling indiscriminately when there was a lot of community spread happening,” he said. “That’s how it overwhelmed the entire country. I do agree that we have to be careful with domestic travel. It’s not just about San Antonio. It's all over the country where we’re seeing spikes of community spread.”

One reporter asked about the demographics of those who have recovered from the coronavirus.

“The one woman who was released prematurely by the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] has recovered,” he said of the woman who may be North Star Mall’s most notable shopper.

Information about patients who have recovered from COVID-19, he added, will be available soon.

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.