Hays County tallies 48 COVID-19 cases, 19 recoveries Thursday

The Hays County Local Health Department recorded 48 new lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases and tallied 19 additional recoveries on Thursday. 

There are currently 361 active coronavirus cases — a 29-case increase since Wednesday — and there have been 6,313 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 482 active cases over the last 21 days — a 22-case increase since Wednesday. The county reported that there have been 769 probable cases spanning from April through October.

There are currently five county residents hospitalized by COVID-19 and there have been 391 total hospitalizations as of Thursday. 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 5,861 residents recover from the disease as of Wednesday. 

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 37,233 negative tests and there have been 43,546 tests administered in Hays County.

San Marcos, which has tallied the most coronavirus cases in the county, saw a three-case increase in active cases reported Thursday. There are currently 58 active COVID-19 cases and there have been 2,997.

Kyle has tallied 1,909 total cases, including 134 active cases. Buda has recorded 907 total cases and currently has 95 active cases. Dripping Springs has amassed 146 total cases and has 33 active cases. Wimberley has tallied 122 total cases, including 13 active cases. Austin, within Hays County, currently has 18 active cases and has had 94 total cases. Driftwood has recorded 51 total cases and has six active cases. Niederwald has had 30 total cases. Uhland has had 23 total cases and two active cases. Mountain City has had 11 total cases and has one active case. Maxwell has had 10 total cases.

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

The 20-29-age-range has recorded the most COVID-19 cases with 2,274 total cases tallied as of Wednesday.

According to the local health department, 1,008 county residents diagnosed with the disease are between 30-39 years old. Seven-hundred-sixty-two people diagnosed with the coronavirus are 40-49 years old. Seven-hundred-fifty residents fall in the 10-19-year-old age range. Five-hundred-eighty-six county residents diagnosed with COVID-19 are between 50-59 years old, 377 are 60-69 years old, 214 are 70-79 years old, 220 are 9 years old or younger and 122 are 80 and older.

According to the local health department, 3,284 females and 3,029 males in Hays County have been diagnosed with COVID-19.

The county’s ethnic breakdown states 44.8% of county residents diagnosed with the coronavirus are Hispanic, while 32% of county residents diagnosed with the disease don’t have a specified ethnicity and 23.1% are non-Hispanic.

By race, 63.5% of county residents who’ve had COVID-19 are white, 33.5% 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 934,994 Texans diagnosed with COVID-19, 18,453 fatalities and an estimated 802,611 recoveries from the disease. There are currently 5,954 Texans hospitalized by the coronavirus, according to the DSHS.

At Texas State University there have been 810 total coronavirus cases since March 1 — 759 among students and 51 among faculty and staff — as of press time on Thursday. There are currently 35 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 four total onsite cases among students.

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.