San Antonio COVID-19 cases shatter single-day record as mayor warns hospitals are ‘stressed’
- Wikimedia Commons / Charles Spirtos
- A medic pulls on gloves as she gets ready to work at a mobile testing site in the Texas Hill Country.
Local health officials reported 1,997 new COVID-19 cases Sunday, setting a new single-day record of infections as the city’s hospital system faces growing strain.
The San Antonio area also tallied seven additional coronavirus-related deaths.
COVID-patients now make up a third of all patients in local hospitals, a percentage that’s doubled since the middle of December. Sunday’s number of new infections exceeds a record of 1,717 set December 22.
In a weekend interview with TV station KSAT, Mayor Ron Nirenberg warned that local hospitalizations have reached their highest number since the start of the pandemic.
“The local hospitals are in command of their situation, but it’s very serious. They are stressed,” he said. “They are seeing record numbers of admissions every single day with regard to coronavirus, much higher than even we saw during the summer.”
As of Sunday, 1,234 people in local hospitals were receiving treatment for COVID-19. Of those, 337 are intensive care and 182 are on ventilators. Just 14% of staffed beds and 52% of ventilators remain available.
Although the surge in cases is stressing local medical facilities, Nirenberg told KSAT better treatments and earlier diagnoses are leading to shorter hospital stays.
As of Sunday, 12,563 patients were in Texas hospitals to treat coronavirus-related infections, a new state record, the Texas Tribune reports.
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