Month: February 2021

SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff updated the community about the local response to COVID-19 in their daily briefing Sunday night. Nirenberg reported 173,154 total COVID-19 cases and 2,143 total deaths in Bexar County, an increase of 174 new cases as of Sunday. Eleven new deaths were reported today. The low number of cases is due to the city not receiving a state lab report, according to Nirenberg. And, the overall total number of cases includes a backlog of cases, dating back to July 4. The 7-day moving average of cases is 1,405. City officials also reported that 1,169 patients are hospitalized, 385 are in the intensive care unit and 247 are on ventilators. There are 12% of staffed beds available and 51% of ventilators available. Watch t...

Avoid pain relief medications just before getting the COVID-19 vaccine, but they are "perfectly fine" to take after, experts say. Headache, fever, body aches and chills: While these are completely normal side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine – and a good sign your immune system is working – they can be unpleasant. To minimize the discomfort, some Americans may turn to pain relievers such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen. Others worry those medications could blunt the effectiveness of the vaccine.  Studies on the subject are sparse and inconsistent, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization recommend against the preventive use of pain relievers,though they allow them if symptoms develop after. In a study published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Virol...

The scattered reports from around the country can play like a cruel irony: Someone tests positive for the coronavirus even though they have already received one or both doses of a Covid-19 vaccine. Notable examples It’s happened to at least three members of Congress recently: But it’s been reported in people in other walks of life too, including Rick Pitino, a Hall of Fame basketball coach, and a nurse in California. How can that happen? Experts say cases like these are not surprising and do not indicate that there was something wrong with the vaccines or how they were administered. Here is why. Vaccines don’t work instantly. It takes a few weeks for the body to build up immunity after receiving a dose. And the vaccines now in use in the U.S., from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, both req...

Los Angeles County public health officials on Sunday reported 5,925 new cases of the coronavirus and 124 related deaths, a further sign that the outbreak may be leveling off but that comes at a time when the state has begun relaxing restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of the virus. Case numbers tend to be lower on the weekends because not all laboratories report results. Still, the data bolster evidence that the region is emerging from a vicious surge that started in late October and nearly overwhelmed area hospitals. Hospitalizations have also continued to decline since peaking earlier this month. There were 5,398 COVID-19 patients in L.A. County hospitals as of Saturday, a decrease of about 26% percent from two weeks before, when there were 7,322 patients. “Although some restrictio...