Active COVID-19 cases show sign of possible peak

Two Hays County men recently died of COVID-19, marking the 346th and 347th coronavirus-related fatalities.

The Hays County Local Health Department stated that the two residents who died were a Driftwood man in his 70s and a San Marcos man in his 50s.

The county also reported 152 additional recoveries from COVID-19, 80 new lab-confirmed cases, which lowers the overall amount of active cases in the county. There were seven new hospitalizations and seven hospital discharges on Friday.

The county considers 1,788 cases active — 74 fewer than the day before — and there have been 27,573 total cases since the first diagnosis of the virus within its boundaries on March 14, 2020. For Wimberley, there are 161 active cases of COVID-19 as of Friday, which is slightly down from the record highs of the last few weeks. There have been 1,392 total cases since the beginning of the pandemic. Wimberley ISD reports that there were 48 students as of September 17, which is nearly half of the record highs from two weeks ago. There have been 229 cases reported by the school district since the beginning of this school year on August 18.

The county has tallied 2,788 COVID-19 cases over the past 21 days. There have been 3,069 probable cases spanning from April 2020 through Sept. 17, 2021

HOSPITALIZATIONS

Fifty-five county residents are currently hospitalized by COVID-19 — 50 who are unvaccinated and five who are fully vaccinated, according to the local health department. The county stated that of the 50 citizens hospitalized who are unvaccinated, 21 are non-ICU patients, 15 are in the ICU and not currently on a ventilator and 14 are in the ICU and on a ventilator. Additionally, three patients who are fully vaccinated are not in the ICU, while one is in the ICU and on a ventilator and one is in the ICU and not on a ventilator. There have been 1,254 total hospitalizations as of Friday.

There have been 25,438 county residents who’ve recovered from the coronavirus following the 152 recoveries tallied Friday.

The local health department has received 243,552 negative tests and there have been 271,125 tests administered in Hays County. The positivity rate for Friday’s report was approximately 6.53%. During its weekly audit, the county removed 24 cases from its total case count due to out of county or duplicate records.

COVID COUNT BY CITY

San Marcos currently has 562 active cases and there have been 9,426 total cases.

Kyle has recorded 8,904 total cases, including 566 active cases. Buda has tallied 4,967 total cases and currently has 314 active cases. Dripping Springs has amassed 1,331 total cases and has 64 active cases. Wimberley has counted 1,380 total cases, including 161 active cases. Austin, within Hays County, has had 765 total cases and has 52 active cases. Driftwood has recorded 415 total cases with 41 cases considered active. Niederwald has had 126 total cases, including six active cases. Mountain City has amassed 75 total cases with three currently considered active. Maxwell has had 59 total cases, including three active cases. Uhland has had 51 total cases and has three active cases. Manchaca has recorded 44 total cases with 13 currently considered active.

Woodcreek has recorded 12 total. Creedmoor has recorded eight total cases. Bear Creek has amassed seven total cases. Hays has reported three total cases.

The 20-29-age-range has recorded the most COVID-19 cases with 7,207 total cases tallied as of Friday. There are currently 322 active cases among 20- 29 year olds in Hays County.

According to the local health department, 4,569 county residents diagnosed with the disease are between 10-19 years old, including 401 cases considered active; 4,334 county residents diagnosed with the disease are between 30- 39 years old with 276 with active cases; 3,724 people fall in the 40-49-year-old age range with 234 cases considered active; 2,595 are between 50-59 years old, including 131 active cases; 2,246 are 9 years old or younger with 287 cases considered active; and 1,669 county residents diagnosed with the coronavirus are 60-69 years old and 81 are considered active cases.

Seven-hundred-ninety-three Hays County residents who’ve contracted COVID-19 are 70-79 years old, including 41 active cases; and 436 are 85 and older with 15 cases currently active.

The local health department reported that 14,351 females and 13,222 males in Hays County have been diagnosed with COVID-19. There are currently 926 active cases among females in the county and there are 862 active cases among males.

The county’s ethnic breakdown stated 49.2% of county residents diagnosed with the coronavirus are Hispanic, while 36.9% of county residents diagnosed with the disease are non-Hispanic and 14% don’t have a specified ethnicity.

By race, 69.3% of county residents who’ve had COVID-19 are white, 25.3% are unknown or not specified, 3.3% are Black, 1% are Asian, 1% are listed as other and 0.1% are American Indian.

The Texas Department of State Health Services reported an additional 13,929 lab-confirmed cases Friday. There have now been 3,265,735 Texans diagnosed with COVID-19 and 60,357 fatalities as of Friday. There are currently 12,475 Texans hospitalized by the coronavirus, according to the DSHS. The statewide positivity rate as of Friday is 15.942%.