.png)
Hays County Epidemiologist Eric Schneider said the county is currently experiencing a second wave of virus cases as new COVID-19 diagnoses continue to climb.
The county has seen an uptick in novel coronavirus cases since the beginning of June, and has recently reported 746 new COVID-19 diagnoses in the last week. Schneider said since the county’s virus report on June 10, 58% of cases reported are from San Marcos residents in the 20-29-year-old range.
“We expected an uptick as businesses, bars, restaurants and local hangouts reopened,” Schneider said during a Wednesday press conference. “But that number is growing faster than expected.”
Schneider attributed the rise in cases throughout the county to recent protests, residents floating the river in San Marcos and New Braunfels, and residents visiting late-night bars in the county, Austin and San Antonio.
“Memorial Day weekend saw a large number of young people at mass gatherings,” Schneider said. “At this point, most of our residents should assume that they take the risk of coming into contact with someone who has COVID-19 as soon as they leave their home. In terms of shutting businesses down, again, the county isn't able to make any orders that are more restrictive than what the state does.”
Schneider added that the top industries that the county is seeing people test positive for COVID-19 are health care workers, construction workers and food service.
Over the past week, a multitude of San Marcos restaurants and businesses have announced that they’re either temporarily closing because an employee has tested positive for the coronavirus or in order to prevent the spread of the virus amid the current spike in cases.
“We also know many local businesses are impacted because a chunk of their employees are in that (20-29) age range,” Schneider said. “When they have employees who test positive, the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) recommends they close down overnight to do a deep clean and sanitize and not allow those employees who have tested positive back until they have been cleared.”
Schneider added that the county does not have the authority to shut down a business if an employee tests positive for COVID-19. He also stated that the local health department will not name every business where someone tested positive.
“Many business owners, once they found out an employee has COVID-19, reached out asking us what they should do, and we are grateful that these business owners have been voluntarily shutting down for longer periods of time, doing the cleanings and informing the public,” Schneider said. “They're taking the right steps to ensure proper workplace procedures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.”
As virus cases continue to increase within Hays County, Schneider continues to reiterate the importance of wearing a mask in public, practicing social distancing and washing hands frequently.
“Why do we want you to do these things? It is to protect our entire community,” Schneider said. “But most of all, for those who are at risk of complications from COVID-19 if they do catch it. We do these things to protect the most vulnerable, to help those who aren't able to help themselves. It might be that you get COVID-19 and quickly recover. But a parent, an aunt, or grandparent, or sibling, or perhaps a coworker who is immunocompromised or has underlying health conditions, may not be able to recover as well. And it's easy to wear a mask, and stay apart and wash your hands. We know most people want to do the right thing.”
