San Antonio – On Thursday, Bexar County health officials confirmed the inevitable -- that the new coronavirus that causes the respiratory illness COVID-19, is now being transmitted within the community.
Until late this week, the cases in Bexar County could be traced to travel outside of Texas or to contact with someone who had traveled outside the state and tested positive.
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“Our focus is shifting from containment to community mitigation,” said Michelle Vigil, public relations manager for the Metropolitan Health District.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes community mitigation as “a set of actions that persons and communities can take to help slow the spread of respiratory virus infections. Community mitigation is especially important before a vaccine or drug becomes widely available.”
Texas, Bexar County and San Antonio have all issued emergency declarations to implement social distancing and other measures in an attempt to slow the spread of COVID-19.
The shift from containment to community mitigation means that Metro Health officials will no longer spend great effort tracing the steps of people with COVID-19 to notify others who may have had contact with them.
“We will not be doing any intense contact tracing,” Vigil said.
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