Summer spike: Bexar County s coronavirus positivity rate, case numbers soar again
17% of all COVID-19 tests in the San Antonio area returned a positive result last week, while the county averaged 589 new cases per day. Author: KENS 5 Staff (KENS 5) Published: 7:38 PM CDT July 27, 2021 Updated: 7:42 PM CDT July 27, 2021
SAN ANTONIO Call it a summer spike: COVID-19 numbers continue to climb in the San Antonio area, which is seeing substantial community transmission as the Delta variant runs rampant.
San Antonio Metro Health moved the city s COVID-19 Risk Level into the moderate and worsening zone, citing a critical rise in the 2-week decline in cases and positivity rate and intensified hospital trends.
Texas Public Radio San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff join other officials at a press conference encouraging the unvaccinated to get the vaccine as soon as possible.
San Antonio health officials are doubling down on the urgency to get vaccinated as hospitalizations reach 418 people, a sharp increase compared to the beginning of July.
New infections, driven by the delta variant of the coronavirus, have risen dramatically in recent weeks now at 363 per day when new daily cases sat at 126 two weeks ago. Those contracting the virus by-and-large are unvaccinated, health officials said, with around 95% of those in the hospital are not fully vaccinated.
/ Newly installed Metro Health Director Claude Jacob speaks to the press on Thursday morning. Jacob was selected by San Antonio City Manager in April but began with the City of San Antonio on July 6.
San Antonio Metro Health has a new public health director. Claude Jacob joined the city earlier this month and will lead the countywide response to the pandemic at a time when cases are beginning to rise.
Jacob comes from Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he served in a similar role as the chief public health officer for the city since 2007. He’ll be overseeing the department after former Assistant City Manager Dr. Colleen Bridger left the city earlier this week in a planned departure to start a consulting business.
The following numbers are provided by San Antonio Metro Health. A full breakdown can be found here.
1,254,379 Bexar County residents have received
at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, representing
75.5 percent of the county s population eligible to receive a vaccination.
1,039,246 Bexar County residents are
fully vaccinated, representing
215,133 Bexar County residents have not yet received their second vaccine dose.
Credit: KENS
Since the start of July, the number of Bexar County residents getting the COVID-19 vaccine has plateaued. In that three-week span, 29,424 residents received their first dose, while 45,402 residents received their second dose. Over the prior three-week period, 90,374 residents received their first dose, while 135,830 residents got their second shot.
San Antonio Metro Health introduces new director | Encourages community to get vaccinated if not already
Claude Jacob brings decades of experience from Massachusetts. He will continue to hammer home Metro Health s plea to vaccinate. Author: Jeremy Baker Updated: 6:11 PM CDT July 22, 2021
SAN ANTONIO San Antonio s Metro Health has a new leader. Claude Jacob is two weeks into the job and comes to San Antonio in the middle of a pandemic.
Jacob, a married father of three, comes to the Lone Star State from Massachusetts. He has over 20 years of experience in public health. He brings his experience in New England here to San Antonio, and says the strategy to fight COVID here, is largely the same from up north.