Backlogged COVID-19 positive cases jump county virus totals

A new report of backlogged data for positive COVID-19 cases in Hays County has skewed the overall numbers this week significantly.

The Hays County Local Health Department recently received a new batch of lab reports from the state health department for testing performed in Hays County during a series of mobile testing operations. There were 527 new positive cases reported on Monday that were associated with free testing sites earlier in the summer. The newly revealed positive tests were attributed to dates from May through July 16 depending on the date of testing.

“The Hays County Local Health Department is only able to report on the cases that are reported to us,” Schneider said. “Given the volume of COVID-19 testing in our county, some delay in reporting is expected.”

After the update, Hays County’s total lab confirmed cases rose to 4,893. A large portion of the newly reported cases are already considered recovered. The total amount of active cases in Hays County is 2,884 and 1,980 cases are considered recovered.

There have been 29 fatalities related to COVID-19 in Hays County after four more deaths were reported in the last week. Since the beginning of the pandemic, there has been one fatality related to COVID-19 in the Wimberley Valley. The two hardest hit local cities are San Marcos, with 16 fatalities, and Kyle, with eight fatalities.

The Wimberley Valley has had 80 confirmed cases on COVID-19, which includes one active case within the city limits of Woodcreek. There are 34 total active cases in the Wimberley Valley, down from 42 last week.

There have been 107 hospitalizations in Hays County with 23 still in the hospital.

Some patients are in hospitals outside Hays County but are included in the numbers if they reside here. Likewise, an individual from another county who is in a local hospital would be accounted for in their county of residence.