SAN ANTONIO — More than a month after the city and county's Stay Home, Work Safe orders went into effect – and five weeks after the number of positive coronavirus cases in the metro crossed 200 – a milestone in the local fight against the novel coronavirus has been reached.
At a Monday evening briefing, Metro Health Director Dawn Emerick says the city has flattened the curve – that is, stalled the rise of new diagnoses – as residents have largely adhered to social distancing and mask-wearing protocols.
"It's a classic sign of good news," Emerick said. "But we're not done."
Echoing a refrain that's been repeated by Mayor Ron Nirenberg and County Judge Nelson Wolff throughout the pandemic, Emerick said that the virus remains a threat in the community. Continued cooperation and adherence to ongoing stay-home orders, she said Monday, will be essential to ensuring the progress won't go for naught.
"All of this work that you've done – the hard decisions you've made, the advice public health has given you – is the reason why that curve has been flattened," she said. "If we don't adhere to the recommendations we've been so good at following, we're going to see spikes again."
Emerick expanded on the progress that's been made against COVID-19, which has infected more than 1,600 and killed 48 metro residents. According to the city's top health official, it took only three days for the number of new positive cases in the city to double before the first public health emergency declarations were announced.
Now, according to Emerick, it takes about two-and-a-half weeks for new cases to double. Meanwhile, there haven't been newly reported deaths from coronavirus-complications in the county since Thursday.
"We are on the other side of that curve," Emerick said.
But while the community-spread of the virus is slowing, a different story is unfolding at the Bexar County Adult Detention Center. Of the 39 new cases confirmed by local leaders on Monday, 34 are inmates at the jail. 294 inmates have been diagnosed with the coronavirus.
The first positive case from the jail's inmate population came April 10, less than five weeks ago. The rise in cases at the jail in recent days can be attributed at least partially to Bexar County Sheriff's Office's recently announced initiative to test every inmate and detention deputy for the virus—whether they are showing symptoms or now.
"The vast majority of those (positive diagnoses) are people without symptoms," Wolff said at Monday's briefing. "We keep them separate."
The county judge added it is also BCSO protocol to isolate new detainees for two weeks.
Meanwhile, Nirenberg continued to stress the importance of social distancing, even as some businesses have begun to open up in the last few days. Since the initial public health emergency declaration, there have been 5,135 reports of violations, 2,411 warnings issued and 65 citations written, according to the city's website.
The mayor said that potential violations aren't a problem that can be solved with arrests.
"The biggest penalty for not wearing a mask is knowing there will be more deaths in this community," he said.