Alamo Becomes Symbol for San Antonians Concerned Over Mayor's New Curfew

San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg, a Democrat, has threatened residents with a $1,000 fine for gathering outside, even if the residents are caught in their own backyards.

The day before Thanksgiving, Mayor Nirenberg announced a curfew on outdoor gatherings that went into effect Thanksgiving Day and is set to expire on Monday, Nov. 30. Residents who object to the sudden loss of their freedom during the holiday are seizing upon the historic Alamo as a symbol of their struggle against the mayor's strict edict.

According to News 4 San Antonio, the overnight curfew lasts from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., prohibits outdoor gatherings, including backyard gatherings, and carries a hefty $1,000 fine per day for violators caught skirting the order, implemented under the guise of slowing a surging number of Wuhan coronavirus cases.

Fox 29 reports that protesters first gathered outside the Alamo on Friday night in a show of defiance over the new curfew.

A group called "This Is Texas Freedom Force" is holding another protest outside the Alamo on Saturday night, starting at 10:30 p.m. or a half-hour after the curfew on gatherings takes effect.

"Remember the Alamo" was the rallying cry for Texian soldiers following the massacre by Mexican troops at the Alamo Mission in present-day San Antonio in 1836.

Bexar County, which includes the city of San Antonio, announced just over 1,000 new cases on Wednesday. Throughout the course of the pandemic, 1,343 deaths in Bexar County have been attributed to the Wuhan coronavirus.

"It's an extraordinary period in time of the year when we all want to be together with our family and friends, but we know this Thanksgiving is going to have to be different," the mayor said at a press conference.

According to the mayor, the new curfew limits social gatherings outdoors and in backyards. And while people can still order meals to-go or pick-up takeout curbside, the mayor order also bans dining-in entirely during the four-day curfew.

"While most restaurants are doing a great job, and I repeat: a great job, with the cooperation of their patrons following the governor's order, there is no getting around the fact that removing your mask while indoors allows the virus to spread and that is the danger point," said Nirenberg.

If you visited family for Thanksgiving despite COVID-19, here’s what you need to do today!

Tony Bizjak The Sacramento Bee Nov 30, 2020 Updated 31 min a

COVID-19

Tony Bizjak: The Sacramento Bee:Health officials implored people not to gather over Thanksgiving with family, amid a surge in COVID-19 cases that is crowding hospitals, leaving some understaffed. But hundreds of thousands of California residents did so anyway, saying the moment with family was precious enough to take the risk.

Now, those health officials have another request:

Anyone who gathered in a family setting this past weekend should assume for the moment that they have the virus. That means quarantining for 14 days. Call it penance for your indulgence, they say.

Health officials say they fear that Thanksgiving get-togethers have amplified the virus spread at a risky moment. The numbers of cases per day and hospitalizations in Sacramento and California have been shooting upward dramatically since Halloween.

But, they say, the damage can be mitigated to an extent if people who were with others over Thanksgiving now steer clear of others during the 14-day gestation period for the virus.

“We are very worried about a Thanksgiving bump,” Sacramento County health chief Dr. Peter Beilenson said. “It is crucial to keep the surge down.”

People don’t necessarily need to take an immediate virus test because the test may not catch a gestating virus, misleading the person into thinking they are negative when they are in fact infected and asymptomatic.

Key steps, according to Yolo County Health Officer Aimee Sisson:

— Quarantine at home if you traveled, especially if you went to a place where COVID-19 is spreading rapidly, which is happening in much of California and the country.

— Don’t gather this week with coworkers.

— If you need groceries or food, get it delivered to your house.

— If you take a post-Thanksgiving virus test that comes in negative, it should not shorten the 14-day quarantine period, because the virus may not be immediately detectable.

— Don’t travel for the next holiday (i.e. Christmas).

Increasingly, officials say, the virus is being passed along among people ages 18-49, many of whom do not have symptoms or only mild symptoms, thus spread it unknowingly to others, some of whom are elderly and more susceptible to serious health problems from becoming infected.

The moment is critical, as well, health officials say, because hospitals are being hit with a record high number of COVID-19 cases. On Saturday, Sacramento County hospitals’ virus patient numbers jumped to a record 284, and on Sunday the number jumped again to 303 — a quadrupling of COVID-19 patient numbers in just six weeks.

Similarly, both California and the nation this weekend hit record highs of virus patients. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious diseases official, on Sunday warned that the country is likely to see a surge on top of the existing case surge as more people gather indoors, against health advice, in groups this holiday season.

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