Local News: 

On Mar. 3, Governor Greg Abbott announced a lift to the statewide mask mandate and the allowance of restaurants and businesses to operate at 100% capacity. During his statement, the governor mentioned the moves were necessary to bolster the state’s economy. 

Noodle Tree, a ramen noodle shop located on UTSA Blvd., was vandalized after its owner voiced opposition to Governor Greg Abbott’s recent decision to lift the state mask mandate. The owner Mike Nguyen appeared on CNN Wednesday night to speak about Governor Abbott’s decisions. A few days later, racist slurs were painted on the windows of his restaurant.   

CPS Energy, which services all of San Antonio, announced a suit filed against the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to prevent large exorbitant electricity bills for its customers. In the wake of forced rolling outages during February’s snowstorm, the Council is being sued for a breach of contract, negligence and violation of the Texas Constitution.

Coronavirus:

According to data from Johns Hopkins University, the average number of daily new cases of COVID-19 has decreased by 42.5%. 

Of the 10,885,767 vaccine doses sent to Texas 8,005,490 have been administered. 5.6%  of the population has received their first dose while only 9.2% have been fully vaccinated. In Bexar County, 117,727 people, 6.03% of the population, have received the first dose and 172,898 people, 8.85%  of the population have received both doses. 

On Monday night, San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Bexar County Commissioner Justin Rodriguez reported 200,818 total COVID-19 cases and 2,990 total deaths in Bexar county. An increase of 154 new cases and no new deaths were added to the count. In addition, there are 215 hospitalizations, and the positivity rate reached 5.6% up 2.6% since the previous week.