Hays County reports 1 fatality Friday; 55 COVID-19 deaths tallied in January

Hays County witnessed the deadliest month of the COVID-19 pandemic in January with 55 coronavirus-related fatalities reported during the month. 

The Hays County Local Health Department reported one fatality Friday — a San Marcos woman in her 50s. There have now been 186 COVID-19-related deaths since the first diagnosis of the virus within the county's boundaries on March 14, 2020.

Hays County previously recorded two months with 22 fatalities — the highest recorded death totals between the first reported COVID-19 release and last of the month sent from the local health department. 

The county also recorded 185 additional recoveries, 116 new lab-confirmed cases, seven hospital discharges and five hospitalizations on Friday. Following its weekly audit, 335 cases were removed from Hays County’s total lab-confirmed cases. 

The county states that 2,288 COVID-19 cases are considered active and there have been 14,692 total cases. There have been 3,809 active cases over the last 21 days as of Friday. The county stated that there have been 1,691 probable cases spanning from April 2020 through Jan. 29, 2021.

There are currently 37 county residents hospitalized by COVID-19 and there have been 654 total hospitalizations as of 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. 

With the 185 additional recoveries tallied Friday, 12,218 county residents have now recovered from the disease.

The local health department has received 104,058 negative tests and there have been 118,750 tests administered in Hays County.

San Marcos currently has 648 active cases and there have been 5,391 total cases. 

Kyle has tallied 4,722 total cases, including 855 active cases. Buda has recorded 2,576 total cases and currently has 407 active cases. Dripping Springs has amassed 656 total cases and has 121 active cases. Wimberley has tallied 543 total cases, including 114 active cases. Austin, within Hays County, currently has 72 active cases and has had 387 total cases. Driftwood has recorded 184 total cases and has 28 active cases. Niederwald has had 85 total cases and has 13 active cases. Maxwell has had 47 total cases and has 22 active cases. Mountain City has amassed 36 cases and three currently active cases. Uhland has had 28 total cases and currently has one active case. Manchaca has recorded 18 total cases.

Creedmoor has had eight total cases, including three active cases. Bear Creek has tallied four total cases. Woodcreek has had four total cases and one active case.

The 20-29-age-range has recorded the most COVID-19 cases with 4,305 total cases tallied as of Friday.

According to the local health department, 2,281 county residents diagnosed with the disease are between 30-39 years old; 2,098 are 10-19 years old; 1,968 people fall in the 40-49-year-old age range; and 1,471 are between 50-59 years old.

Nine-hundred-forty county residents diagnosed with the coronavirus are 60-69 years old, 895 are 9 years old or younger, 475 are 70-79 years old and 259 are 80 and older.

According to the local health department, 7,682 females and 7,010 males in Hays County have been diagnosed with COVID-19.

The county’s ethnic breakdown states 48.7% of county residents diagnosed with the coronavirus are Hispanic, while 33.2% of county residents diagnosed with the disease are non-Hispanic and 18% don’t have a specified ethnicity.

By race, 69.5% of county residents who’ve had COVID-19 are white, 26.7% are unknown or not specified, 2.7% are Black, 1% are Asian and 0.1% are American Indian.

The Texas Department of State Health Services reported there have now been  2,033,353 Texans diagnosed with COVID-19 and 35,639 fatalities as of Friday. There are currently 11,981 Texans hospitalized by the coronavirus, according to the DSHS.

At Texas State University there have been 1,878 total coronavirus cases since March 1, 2020 — 1,680 among students and 198 among faculty and staff — as of press time on Friday.  There are currently 223 active cases, according to the university’s dashboard.

San Marcos Consolidated ISD reported 12 active COVID-19 cases — eight among staff and four among students — for the week of Jan. 18-24.

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.