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Daily Record infographics by Colton Ashabranner

Hays County tallies 22 newly reported COVID-19 fatalities

Friday, October 23, 2020

Hays County announced 22 additional COVID-19 fatalities resulting from a change in the Texas Department of State Health Service’s reporting system on Friday. 

The county stated that the new fatalities stem from enhanced reporting protocols from hospitals, funeral homes and nursing facilities. Those county residents who died were known to have been diagnosed with COVID-19, however, the Hays County Local Health department wasn’t properly notified of their deaths, the county said. 

“The change is another enhancement in the state’s reporting system,” health department Director Tammy Crumley said. “We’ve seen continual improvement over the course of the pandemic in terms of reporting and data coding.” 

With the 22 newly tallied coronavirus-related fatalities, 86 county residents have died from the disease. 

Additionally, the local health department reported 46 additional COVID-19 recoveries, 19 new lab-confirmed cases, three hospitalizations and three hospital discharges on Friday. 

There are currently 510 active coronavirus cases — 34 fewer than Thursday — and there have been 6,287 total cases since the first diagnosis of the virus in Hays County on March 14. The county also reported that there have been 341 active cases over the last 21 days — a 13-case increase since Thursday.

The local health department states that there have been 769 probable cases spanning from April through October.

There are currently nine county residents hospitalized by COVID-19 and there have been 366 total hospitalizations following fluctuation in hospitalizations and hospital discharges 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 5,691 residents recover from the disease with the 46 new recoveries tallied Friday. 

The local health department has received 33,537 negative tests and there have been 39,824 tests administered in Hays County.

San Marcos has seen the most coronavirus cases in the county but tallied less than 100 active cases on Friday. The city currently has 28 active cases — a three-case decrease since Thursday — and has had 3,126 total cases as of Friday.

Kyle now has 322 active cases and has had 1,865 total. Buda has recorded 857 total cases and currently has 99 active cases. Dripping Springs has amassed 117 total cases and has 31 active cases. Wimberley has tallied 117 total cases, including five active cases. Austin, within Hays County, currently has one active case and has had 74 total cases. Driftwood has recorded 46 total cases and has 14 active cases. Niederwald has had 32 total cases and there is one active case. Uhland has had 20 total cases. Mountain City has had 12 total cases and has five active cases.

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

The 20-29-age-range has recorded the most COVID-19 cases with 2,323 total cases tallied as of Friday.

According to the local health department, 1,018 county residents diagnosed with the disease are between 30-39 years old. Seven-hundred-thirty-one people diagnosed with the coronavirus are 40-49 years old. Seven-hundred-nine residents fall in the 10-19-year-old age range. Five-hundred-eighty-seven county residents diagnosed with COVID-19 are between 50-59 years old, 364 are 60-69 years old, 220 are 70-79 years old, 209 are 9 years old or younger and 125 are 80 and older.

According to the local health department, 3,278 females and 3,009 males in Hays County have been diagnosed with COVID-19.

The county’s ethnic breakdown states 43.4% of county residents diagnosed with the coronavirus are Hispanic, while 36.5% of county residents diagnosed with the disease don’t have a specified ethnicity and 20.1% are non-Hispanic.

By race, 62.5% of county residents who’ve had COVID-19 are white, 34.6% are unknown or not specified, 2.4% are Black and 0.6% are Asian.

The Texas Department of State Health Services reported over 5,000 COVID-19-related hospitalizations on Friday. There are currently 5,065 Texans hospitalized by the disease as of Friday — a 19% increase since last Friday and a 59% increase since Oct. 1.The DSHS also reported that there have now been 851,572 Texans diagnosed with COVID-19 and there have been 17,375 fatalities. An estimated 748,252 Texans have recovered from the coronavirus, according to the DSHS.

At Texas State University there have been 767 total coronavirus cases since March 1 — 720 among students and 47 among faculty and staff — as of publication on Friday. There are currently 44 active cases, according to the university’s dashboard.

As San Marcos Consolidated ISD brought back students at roughly 50% capacity on Oct. 5, the district is reporting five total onsite cases among students and two staff members.

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.

San Marcos Record

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P.O. Box 1109, San Marcos, TX 78666