SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff said hospitals continue to be stressed as an alarming number of COVID-19 cases were confirmed on Tuesday.
Nirenberg reported 1,717 new cases, bringing total COVID-19 cases to 105,164. The 7-day average of cases is now 1,174. He also announced 11 virus-related deaths, bringing the total death toll to 1,471.
The city will issue an emergency alert about the spread of the virus at 7 p.m., Nirenberg said.
City officials also reported that 912 patients are hospitalized, 292 are in the intensive care unit and 145 are on ventilators. There are 10% of staffed beds available.
“No matter how you slice it, these are bad numbers,” Nirenberg said. “They should wake up everyone to the reality of COVID-19 in our community.”
COVID-19 hospitalizations now make up 15.1% of total hospitalizations in Bexar County. If that percentage persists for seven days, occupancy at the majority of local businesses will be cut down to 50%, as per the governor’s emergency orders.
Nirenberg and Wolff urged residents to celebrate Christmas responsibly, but said they do not plan to issue a curfew around the holidays.
“It’s not been recommended by our health professionals, so we are watching the data very carefully,” Nirenberg said.
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