2 Hays County residents die from COVID-19, 158 new cases tallied Tuesday

The Hays County Local Department reported two additional COVID-19-related fatalities on Tuesday. 

The two county residents who died were a Dripping Springs woman in her 70s and a Creedmoor man in his 40s. There have now been 177 coronavirus-related fatalities. 

The local health department also tallied 563 additional recoveries, 158 new lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases, eight hospital discharges and five hospitalizations on Tuesday.

The county states that 2,600 COVID-19 cases are considered active — a 307-case decrease since Monday — and there have been 14,640 total cases since the first diagnosis of the virus in the county on March 14, 2020. There have been 3,799 active cases over the last 21 days as of Tuesday. The county stated that there have been 1,670 probable cases spanning from April 2020 through Jan. 26, 2021.

There are currently 37 county residents hospitalized by COVID-19 and there have been 636 total hospitalizations as of Tuesday. 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 Hays County, the local health department said. 

With the 563 additional recoveries tallied Tuesday, 11,863 county residents have now recovered from the disease.

The local health department has received 101,441 negative tests and there have been 116,081 tests administered in Hays County.

San Marcos recorded 53 new cases Tuesday. There are currently 776 active cases — 167 fewer than Monday —  and there have been 5,481 total cases. 

Kyle has tallied 4,603 total cases, including 922 active cases. Buda has recorded 2,557 total cases and currently has 482 active cases. Dripping Springs has amassed 672 total cases and has 131 active cases. Wimberley has tallied 529 total cases, including 142 active cases. Austin, within Hays County, currently has 69 active cases and has had 388 total cases. Driftwood has recorded 181 total cases and has 30 active cases. Niederwald has had 87 total cases and has 20 active cases. Maxwell has had 41 total cases and has 19 active cases. Mountain City has amassed 36 cases and four currently active cases. Uhland has had 29 total cases and currently has one active case. Manchaca has recorded 19 total cases and has two active cases.

Creedmoor has had six total cases, including one active case. Bear Creek has tallied four total cases. Woodcreek has had four total cases and one active case.

The 20-29-age-range has recorded the most COVID-19 cases with 4,288 total cases tallied as of Tuesday.

According to the local health department, 2,288 county residents diagnosed with the disease are between 30-39 years old, 2,064 are 10-19 years old, 1,973 people fall in the 40-49-year-old age range and 1,486 are between 50-59 years old.

Nine-hundred-twenty-nine county residents diagnosed with the coronavirus are 60-69 years old, 892 are 9 years old or younger, 467 are 70-79 years old and 253 are 80 and older.

According to the local health department, 7,665 females and 6,975 males in Hays County have been diagnosed with COVID-19.

The county’s ethnic breakdown states 48.9% of county residents diagnosed with the coronavirus are Hispanic, while 32.8% of county residents diagnosed with the disease are non-Hispanic and 18.2% don’t have a specified ethnicity.

By race, 69.5% of county residents who’ve had COVID-19 are white, 26.8% are unknown or not specified, 2.7% are Black, 0.9% are Asian and 0.1% are American Indian.

The Texas Department of State Health Services reported there have now been 1,988,063 Texans diagnosed with COVID-19 and 34,701 fatalities as of Tuesday. There are currently 12,851 Texans hospitalized by the coronavirus, according to the DSHS.

At Texas State University there have been 1,786 total coronavirus cases since March 1, 2020 — 1,596 among students and 190 among faculty and staff — as of press time on Tuesday.  There are currently 197 active cases, according to the university’s dashboard.

San Marcos Consolidated ISD reported 12 active COVID-19 cases — eight among staff and four among students — for the week of Jan. 18-24.

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.

COVID-19 VACCINE AVAILABILITY

According to a map provided by the DSHS, there are four providers in San Marcos who currently have received vaccine doses: HEB Pharmacy 455 (200 W. Hopkins St.); HEB Pharmacy 243 (641 E. Hopkins St.); Premier ER San Marcos (1509 N. Interstate 35); and San Marcos Family Medicine (2406 Hunter Road). But, according to the DSHS and San Marcos Family Medicine, all providers in San Marcos allocated vaccine doses have run out as of Tuesday.