County reports 81 new coronavirus cases, six new hospitalizations

The Hays County Local Health Department reported 81 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, 14 additional recoveries and six new hospitalizations 

There are now 1,853 active cases and there have been 2,275 total cases since the first diagnosis of the virus within the county on March 14. 

“With the recent surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in Hays County, we strongly encourage everyone keep practicing these simple yet effective measures: stay distanced in public, wash hands and wear masks,” Hays County Epidemiologist Eric Schneider said. “We can slow the spread of the virus by working as a community.”

With the six additional hospitalizations, there are now 23 county residents currently hospitalized by the disease and there have been 62 total. 

The county now reports 417 recoveries from the disease with the additional 14 recoveries announced Thursday. 

The local health department has received 6,547 negative tests and is awaiting results of 59 tests. 

 Hays County has had five reported COVID-19-related fatalities since the first diagnosis of the disease.  

Cases in San Marcos continue to climb with an additional 46 cases tallied Thursday. San Marcos now has 1,240 active cases and has had 1,354 total cases. 

Kyle now has 389 active cases and has had 601 total. Buda has recorded 209 total cases and currently has 148 active cases. Dripping Springs has amassed 29 total cases and has 21 active cases. Wimberley has tallied 27 total cases, including 16 active cases. Austin, within Hays County, currently has 11 active cases and has had 21 total cases. Driftwood has recorded 13 total cases and has 11 active cases. Niederwald has had eight total cases and has six active cases. Maxwell has six total active cases.

Uhland has had three total cases and has two active cases. Manchaca has two total active cases. Bear Creek and Mountain City have had one total case.

The 20-29-age-range has recorded the most COVID-19 cases with 1,176. 

Three-hundred-thirty-nine county residents diagnosed with the disease are between 30-39 years old. Two-hundred-nineteen people diagnosed with the disease are 40-49 years old. One-hundred-ninety residents fall in the 50-59-year-old age range. One-hundred-thirty-one county residents diagnosed with the disease are between 10-19 years old,  94 are 60-69 years old, 44 are 70-79 years old, 55 are 9 years old or younger and 27 are 80 and older.

According to the local health department, 1,171 females and 1,104 males in Hays County have been diagnosed with the coronavirus.

Hays County recently began reporting a breakdown of cases by ethnicity and race. According to the local health department, 40% of county residents diagnosed with COVID-19 don’t have a specified ethnicity, while 39.8% are Hispanic and 20.2% are non-Hispanic. 

By race, 54.1% of county residents who’ve had COVID-19 are white, 43.6% are unknown or not specified, 1.7% are Black and 0.6% are Asian. 

The Texas Department of State Health Services reported 5,996 new diagnoses Thursday. The DSHS reports that 131,917 Texans have been diagnosed with the coronavirus, there have been 2,275 fatalities and there have been an estimated 74,496 Texans who have recovered from the disease.

COVID-19 causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks for most people.