BEXAR COUNTY, Texas — Local public health leaders said Friday Bexar County cases, positivity rates, and hospitalizations are decreasing, but according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the county is still considered a high COVID-19 community.
While the virus is still circulating, Chief of Epidemiology for San Antonio Metro Health, Dr. Rita Espinoza said we are on the downside of the latest surge.
"Cases are still a little bit higher than what they had been prior to this surge and we're still watching the data and hopefully it will continue to decline," she said.
At University Health, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Brian Alsip added that they are seeing fewer people admitted into hospitals for COVID-19 and there are fewer new cases.
"The rate of decrease was a little faster with this latest surge, compared to the previous surges," he said. "It went up pretty fast and got really high, but didn’t hang around quite as long and so that’s good."
Friday, the CDC announced they were changing the metrics used to determine high COVID-19 communities. Indoor masks wearing are no longer recommended for low and medium level communities.
The CDC now takes hospitalizations and hospital capacity into account, in addition to case counts. During a media briefing Friday, the CDC said they want to give people a break from mask wearing when risk is low, but be able to reach for the masks if things change.
Dr. Alsip echoed the importance of remaining flexible and adapting to new guidance as the pandemic continues to change.
"I think it’s possible those [recommendations] could be moved around certain circumstances, we’ve moved those perimeters, those indicators in the wrong direction or we see a significant variant of concern," he said.
"We continue to say use the community risk level to determine what kind of risk you want to take for yourself and for you loved ones," said Dr. Espinoza.
Dr. Espinoza is also encouraging the San Antonio community to stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccinations, especially for kids 5-11 years old.