Hays County tallies 120 COVID-19 recoveries, 21 new cases

The Hays County Local Health Department reported Thursday that an additional 110 county residents have recovered from COVID-19 alongside 21 new lab-confirmed cases. 

There are currently 2,028 active COVID-19 cases — 89 fewer than Wednesday — and there have been 5,446 total cases since the first diagnosis of the virus within Hays County on March 14. 

“Our active numbers are declining as more health department staff are able to clear older cases,” Hays County Epidemiologist Eric Schneider said. “We are also seeing relatively low numbers of new cases. But we’re not out of the woods yet.”

With the 110 newly reported recoveries, 3,368 Hays County residents have now recovered from the disease.

There are currently 12 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 24,674 negative tests and is awaiting results from 31 tests. There have been 30,151 tests administered in Hays County.

San Marcos has tallied the most coronavirus cases in the county but saw a decrease Thursday with 59 less cases than Wednesday.  The city currently has 786 active cases and has had 2,679 total cases.

Kyle now has 777 active cases and has had 1,681 total. Buda has recorded 739 total cases and currently has 324 active cases. Dripping Springs has amassed 91 total cases and has 58 active cases. Wimberley has tallied 88 total cases, including 24 active cases. Austin, within Hays County, currently has 24 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 2,028 total cases recorded Thursday. 

Nine-hundred-thirteen county residents diagnosed with the disease are between 30-39 years old. Six-hundred-sixty-two people diagnosed with the coronavirus are 40-49 years old. Five-hundred-eight residents fall in the 50-59-year-old age range. Four-hundred-eighty-one 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 97 are 80 and older.

According to the local health department, 2,846 females and 2,600 males in Hays County have been diagnosed with COVID-19.

The county’s ethnic breakdown states that 37% 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 249 total coronavirus cases since March 1 as of Wednesday  — 214 among students and 35 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.