Hays County reports 31 COVID-19 recoveries, 30 new cases Friday

The Hays County Local Health Department reported that an additional 31 county residents have recovered from COVID-19 alongside 30 new lab-confirmed cases on Friday.

There are currently 1,914 active COVID-19 cases — one less than Thursday — and there have been 5,598 total cases since the first diagnosis of the virus in Hays County on March 14. 

With the 31 newly reported recoveries, 3,633 Hays County residents have now recovered from the disease.

There are currently eight county residents hospitalized by the coronavirus. The county has recorded 158 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 reported 51 coronavirus-related fatalities. 

The county has received 25,662 negative tests and is awaiting results from 23 tests. There have been 31,283 tests administered in Hays County.

San Marcos has tallied the most coronavirus cases in the county with 716 active cases and 2,787 total cases on Friday.

Kyle now has 756 active cases and has had 1,705 total. Buda has recorded 754 total cases and currently has 309 active cases. Dripping Springs has amassed 92 total cases and has 56 active cases. Wimberley has tallied 91 total cases, including 23 active cases. Austin, within Hays County, currently has 21 active cases and has had 53 total cases. Driftwood has recorded 37 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 five 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 2,140 total cases tallied Friday. 

Nine-hundred-twenty-three county residents diagnosed with the disease are between 30-39 years old. Six-hundred-sixty-nine people diagnosed with the coronavirus are 40-49 years old. Five-hundred-fifty-one residents fall in the 10-19-year-old age range. Five-hundred-seventeen county residents diagnosed with COVID-19 are between 50-59 years old, 323 are 60-69 years old, 187 are 70-79 years old, 187 are 9 years old or younger and 101 are 80 and older.

According to the local health department, 2,931 females and 2,667 males in Hays County have been diagnosed with COVID-19.

The county’s ethnic breakdown states 44.4% of county residents diagnosed with the coronavirus are Hispanic, while 37.2% of county residents diagnosed with the disease don’t have a specified ethnicity and 18.5% are non-Hispanic. 

By race, 61% of county residents who’ve had COVID-19 are white, 36.6% are unknown or not specified, 2% are Black and 0.5% are Asian. 

The Texas Department of State Health Services reported Friday that there have now been 653,356 Texans diagnosed with COVID-19, there have been 13,997 fatalities and there are 3,465 Texans currently hospitalized by the virus. An estimated 568,067 Texans have recovered from the coronavirus, according to the DSHS.

At Texas State University there have been 366 total coronavirus cases since March 1 — 330 among students and 36 among faculty and staff — as of press time Friday. 

The county says "anyone with a current Hays County residence/address, including students who live on or off campus at Texas State, is counted in our positive cases. Anyone who lives outside of Hays County, such as commuters to the university, are counted by their home county’s health department. University officials have created their own dashboard to track cases of students, faculty and staff who test positive, regardless of where they live." The university's dashboard also includes the Round Rock campus. Infographic by Colton Ashabranner

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.