COVID-19 spike continues with 241 new diagnoses

For the third consecutive day and fourth time in one week, Hays County reported its largest single-day increase in COVID-19 cases with 142 new diagnoses on Saturday.

Hays County also reported 99 new cases on Friday. There have been 241 newly reported COVID-19 cases between Friday and Saturday. The county has more than double its coronavirus case count in a week’s time. Hays County reported a total of 398 total cases on June 5 and saw a 417 case increase in eight days, totaling 815 cases in the county on Saturday.

The county stated that it would update specific information including cities, age, gender and ethnicity in Monday’s full report because of the sheer volume of cases added Saturday. As of Friday there were 402 active cases.

“Today’s COVID-19 numbers are once again high,” county Epidemiologist Eric Schneider said in a statement on Friday. “The community needs to remember that we are still in a pandemic.”

(Editor’s note: The following information is based on Friday’s full report as the county didn’t release a full report Saturday. Check sanmarcosrecord.com or pick up a copy of Tuesday’s paper for up-to-date information.)

The Hays County Local Health Department received a total of 4,641 negative tests as of Friday.

There were 14 county residents hospitalized by the disease as of Friday and there have been 43 total hospitalizations.

The local health department has reported 266 county residents have recovered from COVID-19.

Hays County has had five reported COVID-19-related fatalities since the first coronavirus diagnosis within the county on March 14.

San Marcos, for the second straight day on Friday, also reported its largest single-day increase in virus cases with 80 new diagnoses. San Marcos surpassed Kyle for the most amount of COVID-19 cases in Hays County with 215 active cases and 296 total cases.

Kyle added 12 new cases Friday, raising its active case count to 131 and total count to 258.

Buda tallied five new cases, increasing its total case count to 75 and active case count to 38. Wimberley recorded two new cases Friday and has now had 15 total cases and six active cases.

Dripping Springs has amassed 10 total cases and has four active cases. Austin, within Hays County has had 10 total cases, including five active cases. Niederwald has had four total cases and has two active cases. Driftwood has had two total cases. Bear Creek, Uhland and Maxwell have each had one case.

The 20-29 age group continues to see the largest increase in COVID-19 cases. Sixty-nine county residents diagnosed with the disease Friday fell into the 20-29 age range, marking a total of 283 cases among that particular age group.

One-hundred-seven patients are between 30-39 years old. Eighty-five residents fall in the 50-59-yearold age range. Seventy-eight people diagnosed with the disease are 40-49 years old. Forty patients are 60-69 years old, 29 are between 10-19 years old, 24 are 70-79 years old, 15 are 80 and older and 12 are 9 years old or younger.

Three-hundred-seventy females and 303 males in Hays County have been diagnosed with the coronavirus.

Additionally, Hays County recently began reporting a breakdown of cases by ethnicity and race. According to the local health department, 50.8% of county residents diagnosed with COVID-19 are Hispanic, while 33.1% are non-Hispanic and 16% are not specified.

By race, 70.5% of county residents who’ve had COVID-19 are white, 25.8% are unknown or not specified, 2.7% are black and 1% are Asian.

COVID-19 causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks for most people.

Schneider continues to stress the importance of wearing a mask in public, washing hands frequently and staying 6 feet away from others while outside the home.

“We want everyone to remember why we do these things,” Schneider said. “It’s to protect our community.”

Reminder: Free Testing Available Sunday

Free COVID-19 diagnostic testing will be available in San Marcos today — Sunday, June 14 — and Saturday, June 20.

Free mobile testing on today will be available at Bonham Pre-Kindergarten School, 1225 TX-123, from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. The site will have two drive-thru lanes and one walk-up lane for participants.

Testing in San Marcos will also be available on Saturday, June 20 at Bowie Elementary School, 4020 Monterrey Oak, from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

Appointments are not required for a person to be tested, however, pre-registration can be done on the state's online registration tool or by calling 512-883- 2400. Individuals can expect to receive results 10-25 days after testing is administered.

Testing in San Marcos is being done in cooperation with the Texas National Guard.

Free mobile testing sites will also take place in Buda, Kyle and Uhland throughout next week:

•Wednesday, June 17: Simon Middle School, 3839 East FM 150, Kyle, 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

•Thursday, June 18: Uhland Elementary, 2331 High Road, Uhland, 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

•Friday, June 19: Mc-Cormick Middle School, 5700 Dacy Lane, Buda, 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

ncastillo@sanmarcosrecord.com

Twitter: @Nick_Castillo74