San Marcos man dies from COVID-19; County tallies 55 new cases

A San Marcos man in his 80s has died from COVID-19, marking the 89th coronavirus-related fatality in Hays County. 

The Hays County Local Health Department also reported 55 new lab-confirmed cases, 10 additional recoveries and two hospital discharges on Tuesday. 

There are currently 349 active coronavirus cases — a 45-case increase since Monday — and there have been 6,231 total cases since the first diagnosis of the virus within Hays County. The local health department also reported that there have been 473 active cases over the last 21 days — a 55-case increase since Monday. The county reported that there have been 745 probable cases spanning from April through October.

There are currently eight county residents hospitalized by COVID-19 and there have been 391 total hospitalizations with the two hospital discharges reported Tuesday. 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 now had 5,793 residents recover from the disease as of Monday. 

The local health department has received 36,816 negative tests and there have been 43,047 tests administered in Hays County.

San Marcos, which has tallied the most coronavirus cases in the county, saw a four-case increase in active cases reported Tuesday. There are currently 64 active COVID-19 cases and there have been 2,977

Kyle has tallied 1,878 total cases, including 124 active cases. Buda has recorded 890 total cases and currently has 97 active cases. Dripping Springs has amassed 139 total cases and has 28 active cases. Wimberley has tallied 119 total cases, including 11 active cases. Austin, within Hays County, currently has 16 active cases and has had 92 total cases. Driftwood has recorded 49 total cases and has five active cases. Niederwald has had 30 total cases. Uhland has had 23 total cases and two active cases. Mountain City has had 11 total cases and has one active case. Maxwell has had 10 total cases.

Manchaca has had eight total cases. Bear Creek has one active case and has had three total cases. Woodcreek has had one total case.

The 20-29-age-range has recorded the most COVID-19 cases with 2,258 total cases tallied as of Monday.

According to the local health department, 995 county residents diagnosed with the disease are between 30-39 years old. Seven-hundred-forty-seven people diagnosed with the coronavirus are 40-49 years old. Seven-hundred-thirty-four residents fall in the 10-19-year-old age range. Five-hundred-seventy-seven county residents diagnosed with COVID-19 are between 50-59 years old, 373 are 60-69 years old, 212 are 70-79 years old, 214 are 9 years old or younger and 120 are 80 and older.

According to the local health department, 3,242 females and 2,989 males in Hays County have been diagnosed with COVID-19.

The county’s ethnic breakdown states 44.8% of county residents diagnosed with the coronavirus are Hispanic, while 32.2% of county residents diagnosed with the disease don’t have a specified ethnicity and 22.9% are non-Hispanic.

By race, 63.4% of county residents who’ve had COVID-19 are white, 33.6% are unknown or not specified, 2.4% are Black and 0.6% are Asian.

The Texas Department of State Health Services reported that there have now been 916,773 Texans diagnosed with COVID-19, 18,194 fatalities and an estimated 792,286 recoveries from the disease. There are currently 5,936 Texans hospitalized by the coronavirus, according to the DSHS.

At Texas State University there have been 797 total coronavirus cases since March 1 — 748 among students and 49 among faculty and staff — as of press time on Monday. There are currently 26 active cases, according to the university’s dashboard.

As San Marcos Consolidated ISD brought back students at roughly 50% capacity on Oct. 5, the district is reporting four total onsite cases among students.

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.