Hays County reports 3 COVID-19 fatalities Friday, announces suspension of weekend updates

Three Hays County residents in their 70s have died from COVID-19, marking 17 coronavirus-related fatalities as of Friday. 

The Hays County Local Health Department reported that the three county residents who died were all in their 70s — a man and woman from San Marcos, and a man from Kyle. 

The local health department also reported 49 new COVID-19 cases, 29 recoveries, two additional hospitalizations and one hospital discharge on Friday. 

There are now 3,018 active coronavirus cases and there have been 3,865 total cases since the first diagnosis of the virus within Hays County on March 14. 

With the two hospitalizations and hospital discharge announced Friday, there are currently 20 county residents hospitalized by COVID-19 and there have been 80 total hospitalizations. 

The county has had 830 county residents recover from the disease with the 29 newly reported recoveries. 

The local health department has received 11,197 negative tests and is awaiting the results of 52 tests. 

“We’re encouraged by seeing fewer cases reported over the past several days but want to remind everyone this is far from over,” county Epidemiologist Eric Schneider said in a statement. “COVID-19 is still very active in Hays County and we all need to help to slow the spread.” 

San Marcos has tallied the most coronavirus cases in the county with 2,063 total cases, which includes 1,640 active cases. 

Kyle now has 827 active cases and has had 1,108 total. Buda has recorded 474 total cases and currently has 381 active cases. Dripping Springs has amassed 68 total cases and has 57 active cases. Wimberley has tallied 61 total cases, including 45 active cases. Austin, within Hays County, currently has 21 active cases and has had 33 total cases. Driftwood has recorded 22 total cases and has 20 active cases. Niederwald has had 14 total cases and has 10 active cases. 

Uhland has had eight total cases and has seven active cases. Maxwell has had six total cases, including five active cases. Mountain City has had four total cases and has two active cases. Manchaca has had two total active cases. Bear Creek and Woodcreek each have had one total case.

The 20-29-age-range has recorded the most COVID-19 cases with 1,723. Six-hundred-forty-two county residents diagnosed with the disease are between 30-39 years old. Four-hundred-thirty people diagnosed with the disease are 40-49 years old. Three-hundred-thirty-three residents fall in the 50-59-year-old age range. Two-hundred-fifty-seven county residents diagnosed with the coronavirus are between 10-19 years old, 204 are 60-69 years old, 115 are 9 years old or younger, 101 are 70-79 years old and 60 are 80 and older.

According to the local health department, 2,016 females and 1,849 males in Hays County have been diagnosed with COVID-19.

According to the county’s ethnic breakdown, 42% of county residents diagnosed with the disease don’t have a specified ethnicity, while 40.1% are Hispanic and 17.9% are non-Hispanic. 

By race, 54.3% of county residents who’ve had COVID-19 are white, 43.4% are unknown or not specified, 1.9% are Black and 0.5% are Asian. 

The Texas Department of State Health Services reported a record 129 new COVID-19 related fatalities and 10,291 new COVID-19 cases Friday. The DSHS reported that 307,572 Texans have been diagnosed with the coronavirus, there have been 3,735 fatalities and there have been an estimated 162,191 Texans who have recovered from the disease. There are currently 10,632 Texans hospitalized by the virus.

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.

Hays County suspends weekend COVID-19 updates

Hays County announced Friday that it will suspend weekend COVID-19 updates. 

Schneider said the Hays County Local Health Department was informed that labs will no longer send it updates on cases during the weekend. 

“With the few cases we receive directly from health care providers, we believe releasing weekend numbers would make our positive cases look artificially low,” Schneider said. “Therefore, our Monday reports will reflect any numbers reported to the local health department over the weekend.” 

Schneider added that he’s concerned that reporting the public would mistake low numbers for a decrease in positive cases, “which could cause some people to stop wearing masks and social distancing.” 

“The virus is still alive and well in Hays County,” Schneider said. “We are still strongly urging everyone to continue to engage in safe practices that will help us slow the spread of COVID-19.” 

Schneider recommends practicing frequent hand washing, wearing a mask and staying at least six feet away from others in public spaces to halt the coronavirus spread. 

The county stated that it will continue to provide weekday updates Monday-Friday. Additionally, the county’s COVID-19 dashboard will only be updated during the weekdays.