County warns against post holiday case spike

The Hays County Local Health Department reported Friday that 66 additional county residents have recovered from COVID-19 alongside 25 new lab-confirmed cases and 2 new hospitalizations.

There are currently 1,987 active COVID-19 cases — 41 fewer than Thursday— and there have been 5,471 total cases since the first diagnosis of the virus within Hays County on March 14. 

“We want to remind everyone to continue with the good habits of washing hands, wearing masks and staying distanced throughout the Labor Day holiday weekend,” Hays County Epidemiologist Eric Schneider said. “Another post-holiday spike in cases would take us in the wrong direction.”

Schneider said the health department’s update on Tuesday, Sept. 8, will also include results from Saturday, Sunday and Monday, which is Labor Day. Hays County offices are closed that day in observation of the holiday.

With the 66 newly reported recoveries, 3,434 Hays County residents have now recovered from the disease.

There are currently 14 county residents hospitalized by the coronavirus following a fluctuation in hospitalizations and discharges. The county has reported 153 total hospitalizations. 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 recorded 50 coronavirus-related fatalities since the first diagnosis of the virus within its boundaries.

The county has received 24,705 negative tests and is awaiting results from 29 tests. There have been 30,205 tests administered in Hays County.

San Marcos has tallied the most coronavirus cases in the county but saw a decrease Friday with 30 less cases than Thursday.  The city currently has 756 active cases and has had 2,698 total cases.

Kyle now has 771 active cases and has had 1,684 total. Buda has recorded 742total cases and currently has 322 active cases. Dripping Springs has amassed 91 total cases and has 58 active cases. Wimberley has tallied 88 total cases, including 22 active cases. Austin, within Hays County, currently has 23 active cases and has had 53 total cases. Driftwood has recorded 36 total cases and has 15 active cases. Niederwald has had 30 total cases. Uhland has had 19 total cases and has nine active cases. Mountain City has had 10 total cases and has seven active cases. 

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

The 20-29-age-range has recorded the most COVID-19 cases with 2,108 total cases recorded Friday. 

Nine-hundred-fourteen county residents diagnosed with the disease are between 30-39 years old. Six-hundred-sixty-three people diagnosed with the coronavirus are 40-49 years old. Five-hundred-twelve residents fall in the 50-59-year-old age range. Four-hundred-ninety-four county residents diagnosed with COVID-19 are between 10-19 years old, 313 are 60-69 years old, 185 are 70-79 years old, 184 are 9 years old or younger and 98 are 80 and older.

According to the local health department, 2,861 females and 2,610 males in Hays County have been diagnosed with COVID-19.

The county’s ethnic breakdown states that 37.0% of county residents diagnosed with the disease don’t have a specified ethnicity, while 44.7% are Hispanic and 18.3% are non-Hispanic. 

By race, 60.9% of county residents who’ve had COVID-19 are white, 36.7% are unknown or not specified, 2% are Black and 0.5% are Asian. 

The Texas Department of State Health Services reported Wednesday that there have now been 625,347 Texans diagnosed with COVID-19, there have been 13,091 fatalities and there are 4,075 Texans currently hospitalized by the virus. An estimated 527,359 Texans have recovered from the coronavirus, according to the DSHS.

Texas State University has tallied 277 total coronavirus cases since March 1 as of Wednesday  — 241 among students and 36 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.