4 Hays County residents die of COVID-19, 79 new cases recorded Wednesday

The Hays County Local Health Department recorded four additional COVID-19 related fatalities on Wednesday. 

The four county residents who died were two San Marcos women in their 70s; a Buda woman in her 70s and a Kyle man in his 70s. There have now been 181 coronavirus-related fatalities. 

The local health department also tallied 332 additional recoveries, 79 new lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases, four hospital discharges and one hospitalization on Wednesday.

The county states that 2,343 COVID-19 cases are considered active — a 257-case decrease since Tuesday — and there have been 14,719 total cases since the first diagnosis of the virus in the county on March 14, 2020. There have been 3,674 active cases over the last 21 days as of Wednesday. The county stated that there have been 1,676 probable cases spanning from April 2020 through Jan. 27, 2021.

There are currently 34 county residents hospitalized by COVID-19 and there have been 637 total hospitalizations as of 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 Hays County, the local health department said. 

With the 332 additional recoveries tallied Wednesday, 12,195 county residents have now recovered from the disease.

The local health department has received 101,441 negative tests and there have been 116,060 tests administered in Hays County.

San Marcos recorded 15 new cases Wednesday. There are currently 655 active cases — 121 fewer than Tuesday —  and there have been 5,496 total cases. 

Kyle has tallied 4,645 total cases, including 866 active cases. Buda has recorded 2,566 total cases and currently has 437 active cases. Dripping Springs has amassed 672 total cases and has 129 active cases. Wimberley has tallied 533 total cases, including 121 active cases. Austin, within Hays County, currently has 69 active cases and has had 391 total cases. Driftwood has recorded 182 total cases and has 29 active cases. Niederwald has had 87 total cases and has 13 active cases. Maxwell has had 41 total cases and has 15 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 one active case.

Creedmoor has had seven total cases, including two active cases. 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 4,302 total cases tallied as of Wednesday.

According to the local health department, 2,301 county residents diagnosed with the disease are between 30-39 years old, 2,082 are 10-19 years old, 1,979 people fall in the 40-49-year-old age range and 1,492 are between 50-59 years old.

Nine-hundred-thirty-five county residents diagnosed with the coronavirus are 60-69 years old, 901 are 9 years old or younger, 472 are 70-79 years old and 255 are 80 and older.

According to the local health department, 7,701 females and 7,018 males in Hays County have been diagnosed with COVID-19.

The county’s ethnic breakdown states 49% of county residents diagnosed with the coronavirus are Hispanic, while 32.9% of county residents diagnosed with the disease are non-Hispanic and 18.2% don’t have a specified ethnicity.

By race, 69.6% of county residents who’ve had COVID-19 are white, 26.7% 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 2,003,135 Texans diagnosed with COVID-19 and 35,168 fatalities as of Wednesday. There are currently 12,851 Texans hospitalized by the coronavirus, according to the DSHS.

At Texas State University there have been 1,824 total coronavirus cases since March 1, 2020 — 1,630 among students and 194 among faculty and staff — as of press time on Wednesday.  There are currently 199 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.

HAYS COUNTY COVID-19 VACCINE SIGN UP PORTAL TO REOPEN FRIDAY

In anticipation of additional COVID-19 vaccine doses from the Texas Department of State Health Services, Hays County will reopen its vaccine sign up portal on Friday. Hays County residents, who qualify under the DSHS’s Phase 1A and 1B criteria groups, can sign up to be vaccinated at haysinformed.com, beginning at 12 p.m. on Friday. County residents who don’t have access to the internet or a smart phone can call 512-938-1650 to sign up. The county’s vaccine portal will not be available before noon on Friday. According to the state, only groups 1A — frontline health care workers and residents of a long-term care facility — and 1B, which consists of those who are 65 years and older and people 16 years and older who have a chronic medical condition such as cancer, chronic kidney disease, sickle cell disease and Type 2 diabetes mellitus, are currently eligible to receive the vaccine.