2 Hays County residents die from COVID-19; County reports 77 recoveries

Two Hays County residents have died from COVID-19, marking the 53rd and 54th coronavirus-related fatalities. 

The Hays County Local Health Department stated that the county residents who died were a Buda man in his 70s and a San Marcos woman in her 60s. 

The county also tallied an additional 77 recoveries from COVID-19, 19 new lab-confirmed cases and seven hospitalizations on Wednesday.

There are currently 1,634 active coronavirus cases — 70 fewer than Tuesday — and there have been 5,818 total cases since the first diagnosis of the virus in Hays County on March 14. 

With the 77 newly reported recoveries, 4,130 Hays County residents have now recovered from the disease.

There are currently 23 county residents hospitalized by COVID-19 and there have been 180 total hospitalizations with the seven new hospitalizations reported Wednesday. 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. 

The county has received 26,348 negative tests and there have been 32,166 tests administered in Hays County.

San Marcos has tallied the most coronavirus cases in the county but is no longer the city with the most active cases. The city currently has 533 active cases — 49 less than Tuesday — and has had 2,939 total cases as of Wednesday.

Kyle now has 702 active cases and has had 1,740 total. Buda has recorded 771 total cases and currently has 280 active cases. Wimberley has tallied 97 total cases, including 21 active cases. Dripping Springs has amassed 95 total cases and has 48 active cases. Austin, within Hays County, currently has 21 active cases and has had 59 total cases. Driftwood has recorded 37 total cases and has 12 active cases. Niederwald has had 30 total cases. Uhland has had 20 total cases and has nine active cases. Mountain City has had 10 total cases and has four active cases.

Manchaca has had nine total cases and has three active cases. Maxwell has had nine total cases. Bear Creek and Woodcreek each have had one total case.

The 20-29-age-range has recorded the most COVID-19 cases with 2,210 total cases tallied as of Wednesday. 

Nine-hundred-thirty-nine county residents diagnosed with the disease are between 30-39 years old. Six-hundred-eighty-one people diagnosed with the coronavirus are 40-49 years old. Six-hundred-thirty-seven residents fall in the 10-19-year-old age range. Five-hundred-thirty county residents diagnosed with COVID-19 are between 50-59 years old, 332 are 60-69 years old, 194 are 70-79 years old, 191 are 9 years old or younger and 104 are 80 and older.

According to the local health department, 3,047 females and 2,7671 males in Hays County have been diagnosed with COVID-19.

The county’s ethnic breakdown states 43.52% of county residents diagnosed with the coronavirus are Hispanic, while 37.11% of county residents diagnosed with the disease don’t have a specified ethnicity and 18.37% are non-Hispanic.

By race, 60.1% of county residents who’ve had COVID-19 are white, 37.3% are unknown or not specified, 2.1% are Black and 0.5% are Asian. 

The Texas Department of State Health Services reported Wednesday that there have now been 719,599 Texans diagnosed with COVID-19, there have been 15,129 fatalities and there are 3,195 Texans currently hospitalized by the virus. An estimated 618,054 Texans have recovered from the coronavirus, according to the DSHS.

At Texas State University there have been 575 total coronavirus cases since March 1 — 536 among students and 39 among faculty and staff — as of press time Wednesday. 

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.