Bexar County bars that do not serve food ordered closed due to increase in coronavirus cases
News from Univision 41 -
SAN ANTONIO, Texas - The positivity rate for coronavirus infections in San Antonio rose dramatically Monday and local officials said the area was beginning to see the first effects of Thanksgiving .
The portion of tests that tested positive reached 15.7 percent last week, a jump of 6.5 percentage points from the previous week. The increase in the rate, along with 1,210 new infections reported Monday, is on par with Thanksgiving holidays, authorities said.
In response to the increase, Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff said Monday that bars that do not serve food will be required to close Thursday night . If bar owners want to get a food license or a contract with a food vendor, state regulators could give them some leeway at the deadline, he said. Also, local authorities increased the risk of maintaining face-to-face education.
An increasing positivity rate indicates that transmission in the community is high and that not all infections can be proven by testing.
The rate rose last week even as health care providers tested more than 42,000 people for the virus, nearly 8,000 more than the previous week, indicating that the tests are not keeping up with infections.
The more than 1,000 infections reported Monday brought Bexar County's total recorded cases since the start of the pandemic to 88,196.
