695 hospitalized COVID-19 patients; SAWS working to lift water boiling warning

SAINT ANTHONY – San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff briefed the community on the local response to COVID-19 and the winter weather in their briefing Thursday night.

Nirenberg reported that there are no COVID-19 case data at this time due to this week’s severe weather. A new number of cases and deaths are expected on Friday.

The mayor also reported that 695 patients are hospitalized, 257 in the intensive care unit and 149 in ventilators.

There have been 69 hospital admissions in the last 24 hours, Nirenberg said.

Wolff and Nirenberg talked about rescheduling COVID-19 vaccine appointments at Wonderland Mall and Alamodome administration sites. Click here for the latest information on all vaccination sites.

Announcements

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CPS Energy

Nirenberg made a CPS Energy update of his leadership during the briefing. He said the company has not completely restored power to all customers, but there have been significant improvements in the company’s efforts.

Currently, about 6,000 customers still do not have electricity, mainly due to equipment damage, Nirenberg said.

CPS Energy’s leadership continues to drive energy conservation to maintain the stability of the state grid.

San Antonio water system

San Antonio Water System CEO and President Robert Puente joined Nirenberg and Wolff during today’s briefing to update the community on the current water situation.

Puente said some neighborhoods are still affected by the lack of water pressure. He said broken pipes in some companies and other areas have contributed to the lower pressure.

Announcements

SAWS is in the process of setting up distribution centers for those who do not have water and will also supply bottled water to those who need it. Click here to see the mass water distribution sites.

Puente said SAWS would help customers with their bills, as water was used to prevent spouts from coming out to prevent pipes from bursting into homes and businesses. Click here for more information.

The chairman and CEO say SAWS is working with the Texas Environmental Quality Commission (TCEQ) to try to waive certain requirements to raise the water boiling notice. He said there were no line interruptions, no pollutants and that SAWS uses a closed system, so what sparked the warning was TCEQ regulations on water pressure warnings.

Announcements

Puente says about 20% of the SAWS system has no water and 20% has low pressure. He also said the pumping stations are fully operational, which puts more pressure on more people.

Death by winter weather

Dr. Junda Woo, medical director of the Metropolitan Health District, said the city’s health department is working with the medical office to find out how many people died due to complications caused by the winter weather.

Watch the entire news session in the video player above for more information on city and county leaders.

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