Hays County reports 45 new COVID-19 cases, 16 recoveries Friday

The Hays County Local Health Department reported 45 new lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases, 16 additional recoveries and one hospital discharge on Friday.

There are currently 511 active coronavirus cases — a 29-case increase since Thursday — and there have been 6,616 total cases since the first diagnosis of the virus within Hays County on March 14. The local health department also reported that there have been 641 active cases over the last 21 days — a 23-case increase since Thursday. The county reported that there have been 809 probable cases spanning from April through early November.

The local health department reported Friday that an audit of COVID-19 data found cases that needed to be removed from its case count. Hays County Epidemiologist Eric Schneider said addresses outside Hays County, invalid test results and duplication of previously counted cases are among reasons for removal. 

“After the most recent internal dat review, we found cases that shouldn’t be in our total number of positive COVID-19 cases,” Schneider said. “We will remove them from the data totals, thereby reducing our overall case count.”

Schneider added that the county’s epidemiology team will continue to review cases and will remove any incorrect data from its cumulative total on Fridays. 

There are currently nine county residents hospitalized by COVID-19 and there have been 401 total hospitalizations following the hospital discharge reported 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 the county, the local health department said.

Hays County has now had 6,014 residents recover from the disease as of Friday. 

There have been 91 coronavirus-related fatalities reported since the first diagnosis of the virus within the county’s boundaries.

The local health department has received 41,697 negative tests and there have been 48,313 tests administered in Hays County.

San Marcos, which has tallied the most coronavirus cases in the county, recorded a six-case increase in active cases Friday. There are currently 87 active COVID-19 cases and there have been 3,040.

Kyle has tallied 2,041 total cases, including 190 active cases. Buda has recorded 982 total cases and currently has 128 active cases. Dripping Springs has amassed 169 total cases and has 47 active cases. Wimberley has tallied 127 total cases, including 15 active cases. Austin, within Hays County, currently has 23 active cases and has had 105 total cases. Driftwood has recorded 63 total cases and has 16 active cases. Niederwald has had 30 total cases. Uhland has had 23 total cases and one active case. Mountain City has had 13 total cases and has two active cases.

Maxwell has had nine total cases. Manchaca has had eight total cases. Bear Creek has one active case and has had three total cases. Woodcreek has had two total cases and has one active case.

The 20-29-age-range has recorded the most COVID-19 cases with 2,326 total cases tallied as of Friday.

According to the local health department, 1,056 county residents diagnosed with the disease are between 30-39 years old. Eight-hundred-nine people diagnosed with the coronavirus are 40-49 years old. Eight-hundred-six residents fall in the 10-19-year-old age range. Six-hundred-nineteen county residents diagnosed with COVID-19 are between 50-59 years old, 403 are 60-69 years old, 226 are 70-79 years old, 239 are 9 years old or younger and 132 are 80 and older.

According to the local health department, 3,448 females and 3,168 males in Hays County have been diagnosed with COVID-19.

The county’s ethnic breakdown states 45.2% of county residents diagnosed with the coronavirus are Hispanic, while 30.4% of county residents diagnosed with the disease don’t have a specified ethnicity and 24.5% are non-Hispanic.

By race, 64.6% of county residents who’ve had COVID-19 are white, 32.4% are unknown or not specified, 2.4% are Black and 0.6% are Asian.

The Texas Department of State Health Services reported that there have now been 1,004,983 Texans diagnosed with COVID-19, 19,320 fatalities and an estimated 850,648 recoveries from the disease as of Friday. There are currently 7,083 Texans hospitalized by the coronavirus, according to the DSHS.

At Texas State University there have been 914 total coronavirus cases since March 1 — 860 among students and 54 among faculty and staff — as of press time on Friday. There are currently 123 active cases, according to the university’s dashboard.

As San Marcos Consolidated ISD is reporting nine total onsite COVID-19 cases — five among students and four among faculty and staff.

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.