Mayor Threatens to Shut Down Businesses That Continue to Violate Stay Home, Work Safe Order
April 4, 2020 - San Antonio
The sound of silence. On Friday, Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff amended their Stay Home, Work Safe orders. Photo: Jade Esteban Estrada.
By Jade Esteban Estrada - Staff Writer, San Antonio Sentinel
San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff on Friday amended their Stay Home, Work Safe orders by closing golf courses and ball courts and by prohibiting nursing home professionals from working at more than one rehabilitation center at a time. Moreover, Nirenberg said that both local entities would be “adding teeth” to the enforcement of their declarations and threatened to shut down businesses that continue to violate their mandate. In one day, 88 new COVID-19 cases stoked the city’s tally; San Antonio now has 342 confirmed cases. The human toll remains at nine.
Of this total number of coronavirus cases, 120 were found to be through close contact, meaning that the transmission happened through a person who was already infected with the illness.
The 93 cases that have been attributed to community spread (which means the source of the virus is unknown) are now numerically matched to those cases that are travel-related. Currently, there are 47 cases under investigation.
According to the San Antonio Metropolitan Health Department, 47 people have recovered from COVID-19.
At present, there are 37 patients that are in intensive care and 28 individuals are on ventilators.
On Wednesday, the details of a coronavirus outbreak at the Southeast Nursing and Rehabilitation Center were released to the public. Nirenberg reported that 67 residents tested positive for COVID-19. One of the residents has since passed away. Eleven tests came back negative. There are 60 staff members at the nursing home. Thus far, eight of them have tested positive for the coronavirus. Authorities are in the process of testing the remaining staff members and investigating where else they may have recently been employed.
“Metro Health and the San Antonio Fire Department worked with the facility’s staff to train them on proper deep cleaning and sterilization of the facility,” said Dawn Emerick, director of the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District. “We hope these proactive measures will ultimately reduce the number of people who contract COVID-19 and will equip staff with the ability and resources to care for their patients.”
Individuals who are over the age of 60 are particularly vulnerable to the fast-spreading respiratory illness. There are currently 68 nursing homes in San Antonio and six more in the outer regions of Bexar County.
City and County authority is limited in relation to nursing homes, which is largely the responsibility of state and federal government. Prohibiting nursing home staff members from working at more than one facility at a time is a small, but vigilant additional move by local government to mitigate the spread of the virus.
On Wednesday, the details of a coronavirus outbreak at the Southeast Rehabilitation Center were released to the public. Officials reported that 67 residents tested positive for COVID-19. One of the residents has since passed away. Photo: Jade Esteban Estrada.
Another amendment is the closing of ball parks and golf courses, two types of amusement hubs where some residents have been violating social distancing protocols. “There are some facilities, ball courts being one of them, that are encouraging congregation. We have to deal with that,” said Nirenberg, adding that the goal of these measures is to reduce public gathering as much as possible.
“We know businesses, some of which are bad actors, that are warned and then later issued a violation - and continue to violate the order - they will have their certificates of occupancy revoked,” said Nirenberg. “We will close the business. We will shut you down.”
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Wolff explained that his order was in alignment with Nirenberg’s “so that there wouldn’t be any confusion” about what was prohibited and what was an “allowed activity.” Both City and County parks, for example, will be closed on Easter Weekend.
Perhaps the most significant update was that locals no longer need a doctor’s order to get tested for COVID-19. They do, however, need to complete a pre-screening assessment and then set up an appointment by contacting Metro Health at 210-207-5779 or via email at covid-19@sanantonio.gov.
“We know it’s hard to isolate physically from our friends and family, sometimes,” said Nirenberg in closing. “But we’re all in this together to keep ourselves healthy and to stay alive.”
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.