Hays County reports 73 COVID-19 recoveries, 42 new cases

The Hays County Local Health Department reported 73 additional county residents have recovered from COVID-19, 42 new cases and one hospital discharge Tuesday. 

There are currently 2,969 active cases — a 31-case decrease since Monday — and there have been 4,245 total cases since the first virus diagnosis within the county on March 14. 

Hays County currently has 23 residents hospitalized by the coronavirus and has had 98 total hospitalizations. According to county Epidemiologist Eric Schneider, 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.

With the additional 73 recoveries reported Tuesday, 1,251 county residents have recovered from the disease. 

Hays County has reported 25 coronavirus-related fatalities since the first diagnosis of the virus. 

The local health department has received 21,207 negative COVID-19 tests and is awaiting results from 49 tests. Schneider added that the county recently received a new batch of lab reports from the Texas Department of State Health Services Region 7 from testing performed by the Texas Division of Emergency Management between May 10 and July 26. 

“The health department is working to ascertain how that information might impact our reported case numbers, including determining if new cases are those of Hays County residents,” Schneider said. “Numerous individuals from nearby counties attended the TDEM testing sites held in Hays County. Most of the tested individuals should have received their own results directly from the state, not the local health department. It may take several days for our team to cull through the new information, but once we have confirmed the data, we will report any new positive cases in an upcoming COVID-19 update.”

San Marcos has tallied the most coronavirus cases in the county but continues to see a decrease in active cases with 32 less cases than Monday. The city currently has 1,489 active cases and has had 2,164 total cases.

Kyle now has 894 active cases and has had 1,261 total. Buda has recorded 562 total cases and currently has 401 active cases. Dripping Springs has amassed 75 total cases and has 62 active cases. Wimberley has tallied 69 total cases, including 41 active cases. Austin, within Hays County, currently has 29 active cases and has had 42 total cases. Driftwood has recorded 29 total cases and has 27 active cases. Niederwald has had 17 total cases and has eight active cases. Uhland has had 10 total cases and has nine active cases. 

Maxwell has had six total cases, including four active cases. Mountain City has had five total cases and has two active cases. Manchaca has had three total cases and two 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 1,813. Seven-hundred-five county residents diagnosed with the disease are between 30-39 years old. Four-hundred-eighty-seven people diagnosed with the disease are 40-49 years old. Three-hundred-eighty-two residents fall in the 50-59-year-old age range. Three-hundred-nine county residents diagnosed with the coronavirus are between 10-19 years old, 231 are 60-69 years old, 136 are 9 years old or younger, 114 are 70-79 years old and 68 are 80 and older.

According to the local health department, 2,220 females and 2,025 males in Hays County have been diagnosed with COVID-19.

The county’s ethnic breakdown states that 42% of county residents diagnosed with the disease don’t have a specified ethnicity, while 40.2% are Hispanic and 17.8% are non-Hispanic. 

By race, 54.8% of county residents who’ve had COVID-19 are white, 42.6% are unknown or not specified, 2.1% are Black and 0.5% are Asian. 

The DSHS reported 8.341 new cases Tuesday and 164 additional COVID-19-related fatalities. There have now been 394,265 Texans diagnosed with the coronavirus, there have been 5,877 fatalities and there have been 593 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.