Hays County reports 145 new COVID-19 cases

The Hays County Local Health Department reported 145 new COVID-19 cases, and saw 8 additional recoveries Wednesday. 

There are currently 903 active cases and there have been 1,238 total since the first diagnosis of the virus within the county on March 14. 

“We are still in a pandemic and we are seeing that second wave all health experts talked about,” county Epidemiologist Eric Schneider said in a statement. 

With the eight newly recovered residents, there have been 330 total recoveries. The county also reported two additional hospitalizations Wednesday, marking 17 current hospitalizations and 49 total hospitalizations. 

The local health department has received 5,109 negative tests and is awaiting results of 72 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 98 cases reported Wednesday. San Marcos currently has 592 active cases and has had 687 total cases. 

Kyle had 30 new cases reported, increasing its active case count to 204 and total cases to 371 

Buda added 13 new cases Wednesday, and has had 123 total cases, including 81 active cases. 

Wimberley reported one additional case, raising its total case count to 19 and currently has 10 active cases. Neiderwald tallied one new case Wednesday, and has had seven total cases and has five active cases.  Austin, within Hays County added one new case and now has had 12 total cases, including three active cases. Dripping Springs also added one new case Wednesday, raising its total cases count to 11 and active count to four.

Driftwood has had five total cases and has three active cases. Bear Creek, Uhland and Maxwell have each had one case. 

The 20-29 age group continues to see the largest increase in COVID-19 cases with 74 new cases reported Wednesday. Six-hundred-forty-two county residents diagnosed with the disease are in the 20-29 age range. One-hundred-seventy-four are between 30-39 years old. One-hundred-seventeen residents fall in the 50-59-year-old age range. One-hundred-sixteen people diagnosed with the disease are 40-49 years old. Fifty-five patients are 60-69 years old, 67 are between 10-19 years old, 29 are 70-79 years old, 22 are 9 years old or younger and 16 are 80 and older.

Six-hundred-fifty-six females and 582 males in Hays County have been diagnosed with the coronavirus.

Additionally, Hays County recently began reporting a breakdown of cases by ethnicity and race. According to the local health department, 42.7% of county residents diagnosed with COVID-19 are Hispanic, while 30.7% are not specified and 26.6% are non-Hispanic. 

By race, 60.0% of county residents who’ve had COVID-19 are white, 37.3% are unknown or not specified, 2.1% are black and 0.6% are Asian. 

The Texas Department of State Health Services reported Wednesday that 96,335 Texans have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and there have been 2,062 fatalities. The DSHS estimates that 62,368 Texans 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.