BEXAR COUNTY, Texas — Over the past four weeks in Bexar County, Metro Health has reported significant increases in older coronavirus deaths on Sundays.
According to Metro Health data, there were 27 fatalities reported on Oct. 11; 24 on Oct. 4; 56 on Sept. 27; and 36 on Sept. 20.
These jumps are much larger than the daily increases reported during the week.
Metro Health’s Dr. Golareh Agha said the backlogged deaths reported on Sundays are more than two weeks old.
“For backlog deaths, again, the definition is anything that doesn’t occur within the last 14 days, so we rely on the date of death for that. But usually, the numbers reported are usually several weeks out,” Agha said.
The majority of the backlogged deaths are linked to death certificates as local officials confirm the death was related to the coronavirus and that the person lived in Bexar County.
Other backlogged deaths come from post mortem surveillance, which are tested performed on people who showed signs of the virus but were never officially tested before they died.
Agha noted the backlogged cases are intentionally left out of the Monday through Saturday coronavirus updates.
“They don’t really count as new cases according to our definition and so we’ve decided to process it over the week and report those out on Sunday, any backlog cases or any backlog deaths so that during the week, we can focus on the new cases and sort of the current status quo.”
“We’re still doing good but again, we can’t let up,” she said.
Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff is reminding everyone to take the pandemic seriously by continuing to wear masks and socially distance.