Workers at San Antonio’s Alamodome vaccination site administer COVID-19 shots during the height of the pandemic. Credit: Courtesy Photo / City of San Antonio

In a sign San Antonio’s summer COVID-19 surge may finally be drawing to a close, the total reported cases in Bexar County declined last week, marking the first drop in numbers since the week ended July 3.

Between Aug. 29 and Sept. 4, San Antonio Metro Health recorded 2,656 COVID-19 cases, 26 fewer than the previous week. It’s also the first time local officials have recorded a week-to-week decline in cases since June, according to the data.

COVID-19 cases jumped 710% in Bexar County between June 27 and Aug. 28, with the high number of infections driven by a slew of omicron subvariants, University Health infectious disease expert Dr. Jason Bowling told the Current last month.

Even so, most cases this summer appear to be milder than in the early days of the global COVID crisis. Metro Health only reported seven deaths since cases began rising on June 27.

“The majority of the people around the world have some baseline immunity, so we’re in a better place than when it first emerged at the beginning of the pandemic,” Bowling said.

The decline of local COVID-19 cases comes as observers expect the Federal Drug Administration to approve a new single-dose booster shot as soon as Friday, NBC News reports. The boosters produced by Pfizer and Moderna are designed to combat the XBB.1.5 omicron subvariant but should still protect against other circulating variants, according to NBC.

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This article appears in Sep 6-19, 2023.

Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...