2 San Marcans die from COVID-19, 34 new cases reported Friday

Two San Marcans died of COVID-19, the Hays County Local Health Department reported Friday. 

The two San Marcos residents who died were a man in his 70s and a woman in her 60s. Hays County has now recorded 227 coronavirus-related fatalities since the first diagnosis of the virus within its boundaries on March 14, 2020. 

The local health department also tallied 34 new lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases, three hospital discharges and one hospitalization on Friday. 

The county considers 646 cases active — 32 more than Thursday  — and there have been 16,490 total cases. Hays County has tallied 702 COVID-19 cases over the past 21 days. There have been 1,828 probable cases spanning from April 2020 through March 5, 2021.

Fourteen county residents are currently hospitalized by COVID-19 and there have been 755 total hospitalizations following the fluctuation between hospitalizations and hospital discharges reported on Friday. Some patients hospitalized by COVID-19 are in hospitals outside of Hays County but are included in the county’s numbers if they reside within Hays County, the local health department said. 

There have been 15,617 county residents who have recovered from the coronavirus with zero recoveries recorded Friday. 

The local health department has received 127,567 negative tests and there have been 144,057 tests administered in Hays County. Following its weekly audit, the county removed two cases from its total case count. According to the local health department, cases are removed when they are determined to be out-of-county or duplicate data. 

San Marcos currently has 173 active cases — a five-case increase since Thursday — and there have been 5,855 total cases. 

Kyle has recorded 5,340 total cases, including 195 active cases. Buda has tallied 2,922 total cases and currently has 142 active cases. Dripping Springs has amassed 758 total cases and has 41 active cases. Wimberley has counted 660 total cases, including 38 active cases. Austin, within Hays County, currently has 35 active cases and has had 494 total cases. Driftwood has recorded 205 total cases and has six active cases. Niederwald has had 89 total cases and has one active case. Maxwell has had 56 total cases and has 11 active cases. Mountain City has amassed 40 cases and one active case. Uhland has had 29 total cases and one active case. Manchaca has recorded 25 total cases and has two active cases.

Woodcreek has tallied seven total. Bear Creek has amassed four total cases. Creedmoor has had three total cases. 

The 20-29-age-range has recorded the most COVID-19 cases with 4,683 total cases tallied Friday. 

According to the local health department, 2,529 county residents diagnosed with the disease are between 30-39 years old; 2,429 are 10-19 years old; 2,235 people fall in the 40-49-year-old age range; 1,655 are between 50-59 years old; 1,074 county residents diagnosed with the coronavirus are 60-69 years old; and 1,054 are 9 years old or younger

Five-hundred-twenty-eight residents who've contracted COVID-19 are 70-79 years old, and 303 are 80 and older.

The local health department reported that 8,603 females and 7,887 males in Hays County have been diagnosed with COVID-19.

The county’s ethnic breakdown stated 49.2% of county residents diagnosed with the coronavirus are Hispanic, while 34% of county residents diagnosed with the disease are non-Hispanic and 16.9% don’t have a specified ethnicity.

By race, 69.6% of county residents who’ve had COVID-19 are white, 25.6% are unknown or not specified, 2.7% are Black, 1% are listed as other, 1% are Asian and 0.1% are American Indian.

The Texas Department of State Health Services reported there have now been 2,314,187  Texans diagnosed with COVID-19 and 44,134 fatalities as of Friday. There are currently 5,065 Texans hospitalized by the coronavirus, according to the DSHS.

At Texas State University there have been 2,226 total coronavirus cases since March 1, 2020 — 2,001 among students and 225 among faculty and staff — as of press time on Friday.  There are currently 76 active cases, according to the university’s dashboard.

San Marcos Consolidated ISD reported two COVID-19 cases for the week of Feb. 15-21. Both cases exist among staff members. 

COVID-19 causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks for most people. The disease, however, can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death, especially for older adults and people with existing health problems.

COVID-19 VACCINE SIGNUP 

To pre-register for Hays County’s COVID-19 vaccine waitlist visit haysinformed.com/covid-19. The pre-registration list does not guarantee an appointment. The state is only allowing individuals in groups 1A — front-line healthcare workers and residents at long-term care facilities — and 1B, individuals 65 or older, or 16 or older with a health condition that increases risk of severe COVID‑19 illness to register to be vaccinated. According to the DSHS, 28,820 county residents have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine as of Friday, while 15,081  have been fully vaccinated. The DSHS estimates that Hays County has a population of 183,380 who are 16 years or older.