As the Delta variant of coronavirus spreads across the United States, Bexar and adjoining counties are posting a seven-day average of cases nearly double as compared to last week.
According to the most recent data posted by Bexar County the average number of cases had a significant jump — from 724 last week to 1,146 this week — as health experts reiterate their call for the public to seriously consider vaccination, which they claimed as capable of sparing people from serious illnesses arising from COVID-19 infection.
With figures arising from the infectious disease and nearly-saturated healthcare system, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently issued a new guidance which recommended the use of protective masks indoors — even for those who have been fully-vaccinated.
Bexar’s infection rate is pegged at 293.63 per 100,000 people, while its positivity rate stood at a high of 19.9%. There were also 920 persons admitted to the hospitals due to COVID-19. No new deaths were recorded for the week.
Comal County is nursing 983 active cases with a positive rate of 13%. There were 23 hospital admissions due to virus infections and four new fatalities.
Guadalupe County is dealing with 566 active cases, with 24 hospitalizations. Half of its population of 120,000 people is already vaccinated.
As far as its mask recommendation is concerned, the CDC said that it should be something worth considering in counties which have been recording a substantially high rate of new infections — or roughly 50 in every 100,000 people covering a seven-day time table.
Following the latest development, the CDC expressed alarm over Bexar County which has been reported to be nursing a case rate of 293.63 per 100,000 people, a 131% change over the past week as more County folks tested positive for the virus.
Its weekly positivity rate at the start of July was at 5.8%, above the 5% benchmark. However, a spike surge in local transmissions altered the data and had Bexar County hit a positivity rate of 19.9%, as manifested in the data which tend to show a radical increase in hospitalizations.
Of the reported 920 hospitalizations 260 are in the ICU and 132 are on ventilators.
Interestingly 97% of the hospital admissions due to infections involved people who have not yet been vaccinated at all, and for which reason Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff called on the public not to waste time and have themselves vaccinated.
“Unvaccinated people are putting themselves in great jeopardy; they’re putting everybody else in great jeopardy,” Wolff was earlier quoted.
Amid the surge in Delta variant cases, state officials are embarking on new measures to boost vaccination numbers, which would help curb active infections and hospitalizations.
