Eighty-Nine New COVID-19 Cases, One Death Reported in Comal County Monday

Comal County added 89 new COVID-19 cases on Monday and reported the death of a New Braunfels woman in her 70s who passed away Aug. 8 in a San Antonio hospital.

The number of total cases reported since the pandemic began in March 2020 rose to 14,000.

Fifty-one of the new cases are confirmed and 38 are probable.

The total number of deceased is now 351.

There are now 1,326 active, confirmed-and-probable cases of COVID-19 in the county. Of those, 36 are hospitalized.

Another 106 COVID-19 recoveries were reported today, for a total of 12,323.

County hospitals are now caring for 103 COVID-19 patients. Of those, 22 are in intensive care, and 10 are on ventilators. Not all patients in Comal County hospitals are necessarily county residents. Not all county residents hospitalized with COVID-19 are in Comal County hospitals.

County Public Information Officer Cary Zayas said the seven-day molecular positivity rate for Monday is 11.42%, and the seven-day antigen positivity rate is 13.83%. The TSA P percentage is 18.36%.

Location Breakdown of New Cases

• New Braunfels – 48
• North of Canyon Lake – 5
• South of Canyon Lake – 7
• South Comal County (Garden Ridge) – 1
• Bulverde/Spring Branch – 28
• Fair Oaks – 0

Age Range of New Cases

• Under 20 – 13
• 20s – 16
• 30’s/40’s – 28
• 50s/60s – 22
• 70 and older – 10

Testing Information

As of Monday morning, Public Health reports

• 133,991 tests conducted
• 7,705 confirmed cases
• 6,271 probable cases
• 24 suspect cases

Location Breakdown of All Cases

Of the 14,000 confirmed-and-probable COVID-19 cases in Comal County, the location breakdown is:

• New Braunfels (includes Eastern and Central Comal) – 9,785
• Western Comal County (includes Bulverde and Spring Branch) – 2,060
• South of Canyon Lake – 881
• North of Canyon Lake – 730
• Southern Comal County (includes Garden Ridge and Schertz) – 482
• Fair Oaks Ranch – 62

Vaccinations

Comal County’s Public Health Department is now administering Moderna COVID-19 vaccines to those 18 years and older and Pfizer vaccines for anyone 12 years and older.

Probable Cases

“Probable case” is a category established by the Texas Department of State Health Services to describe those who do not have a positive PCR test for COVID-19 but meet two of the three criteria:

• Meets clinical criteria and epidemiologic linkage with no confirmatory laboratory testing performed for SARS-CoV-2.
• Meets presumptive laboratory evidence, which is the detection of SARS-CoV-2 by antigen test in a respiratory specimen.
• Meets vital records criteria with no confirmatory laboratory evidence for SARS-CoV-2.

A probable case is treated identically to a confirmed case and counts toward the county’s positivity rate and total case tally.

Suspected Cases

A ‘suspect’ case meets supportive laboratory evidence with no prior history of being a confirmed or probable case. It is also counted toward the total case tally. Supportive laboratory evidence means:

• • Detection of a specific antibody in serum, plasma, or whole blood.
  • Detection of specific antigen by immunocytochemistry in an autopsy specimen.