Number of virus patients lowest in 4 months

The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 fell Wednesday to the lowest level in more than four months.

San Antonio hospitals were caring for 250 COVID-19 patients, the lowest figure since Nov. 3, when 240 people were hospitalized with the virus, according to city data.

The number of coronavirus cases has fallen for weeks, resulting in the downward trend of hospitalizations.

The decline continued Wednesday, with 96 new cases of COVID-19 reported. That brought the city’s seven-day rolling average to 168 — the lowest figure since October. Health officials calculate the average number of daily new cases over a weeklong period so they can understand the pandemic’s trends and account for day-today changes in the data.

The positive numbers give officials hope that San Antonio is inching closer to the end of the pandemic.

“With the numbers moving in the right direction, please do not let your guard down,” Mayor Ron Nirenberg said. “We continue to ask you to wear masks and continue social distancing as we get vaccines out in our community.”

Nirenberg reported three more deaths that occurred within the last two weeks. Since the start of the pandemic, the virus has claimed 2,856 lives in Bexar County.

Hospitals admitted 34 new patients with COVID-19. At the height of the winter surge, hospitals sometimes admitted almost 200 coronavirus patients each day.

Of those hospitalized, 112 were in intensive care, and 73 were using ventilators to breathe. A month ago, more than 300 people were in the ICU and almost 200 needed ventilators.