Hays County tallies 99 new COVID-19 cases, 29 additional recoveries Thursday

The Hays County Local Health Department reported 99 new lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases, 29 additional recoveries, four hospitalizations and two hospital discharges on Thursday, which included information from Wednesday after the county didn’t release additional data during Veterans Day. 

There are currently 482 active coronavirus cases — a 70-case increase since Tuesday — and there have been 6,585 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 618 active cases over the last 21 days — a 14-case increase since Tuesday. The county reported that there have been 799 probable cases spanning from April through early November.

There are currently 10 county residents hospitalized by COVID-19 and there have been 401 total hospitalizations following fluctuation in hospitalizations and hospital discharges reported 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 6,012 residents recover from the disease as of Thursday. 

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 40,880 negative tests and there have been 47,465 tests administered in Hays County.

San Marcos, which has tallied the most coronavirus cases in the county, recorded an eight-case increase in active cases Thursday. There are currently 81 active COVID-19 cases and there have been 3,045.

Kyle has tallied 2,018 total cases, including 177 active cases. Buda has recorded 973 total cases and currently has 121 active cases. Dripping Springs has amassed 167 total cases and has 48 active cases. Wimberley has tallied 128 total cases, including 14 active cases. Austin, within Hays County, currently has 21 active cases and has had 102 total cases. Driftwood has recorded 62 total cases and has 15 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 10 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 2,324 total cases tallied as of Thursday.

According to the local health department, 1,052 county residents diagnosed with the disease are between 30-39 years old. Seven-hundred-ninety-eight people diagnosed with the coronavirus are 40-49 years old. Seven-hundred-ninety-seven 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, 400 are 60-69 years old, 223 are 70-79 years old, 238 are 9 years old or younger and 134 are 80 and older.

According to the local health department, 3,431 females and 3,154 males in Hays County have been diagnosed with COVID-19.

The county’s ethnic breakdown states 45% of county residents diagnosed with the coronavirus are Hispanic, while 31.1% of county residents diagnosed with the disease don’t have a specified ethnicity and 23.9% are non-Hispanic.

By race, 64.4% of county residents who’ve had COVID-19 are white, 32.6% 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 993,841 Texans diagnosed with COVID-19, 19,147 fatalities and an estimated 838,950 recoveries from the disease as of Thursday. There are currently 6,925 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 Thursday. There are currently 123 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 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.