Courtesy Photo / San Antonio Fire Department
Workers at the Freeman Coliseum coronavirus testing site wave motorists through.
Post-Memorial Day infections have sent record numbers of people to Bexar County hospitals, taxing available beds and resources. As of Sunday, local hospitals were treating 802 COVID-19 patients, or nearly double the amount from a week ago, according to Metro Heath officials.
“What I heard at our briefing last week is that it would take five, possibly six days, to get it completely staffed,” Mayor Ron Nirenberg told the Express-News. “All of the equipment is in there. The tents are in there. The beds are ready to go. It just needs people.”
According to Nirenberg, local officials are also working on plans to let specialty hospitals treat COVID-19 patients if general hospitals can no longer handle the influx.
As of Sunday, 265 of COVID-19 patients in local hospitals were in intensive care while 138 were on ventilators.
Those factors and others have moved the San Antonio area's Hospital Stress Score from "normal" to "high," according to Metro Health. It has not yet reached its highest threat level, "severe."
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