Another 173 New COVID-19 Cases, One Death Reported in Comal County Thursday

Comal County reported 173 new cases of COVID-19 today and confirmed the Aug. 17 death of a New Braunfels man in his 70s who passed away at a New Braunfels hospital.

Of the new cases, 143 are confirmed and 30 are probable, the county said in a statement. Total deceased is now 354. A total of 202 recoveries were reported, for a total of 12,815.

Thirty-seven of the new cases are in residents under the age of 20. Two of those are infants under 12 months of age.

In a statement, Comal County Public Infomation Officer Cary Zayas said there are now 1,337 active, confirmed-and-probable cases in the county. Of those 25 residents are hospitalized.

County hospitals are caring for 93 COVID-19 patients. Of those, 24 are in intensive care, and 16 are on ventilators.

Approximately 92% of these patients are unvaccinated.

Not all patients in Comal County hospitals are necessarily county residents. Not all county residents hospitalized with COVID-19 are in Comal County hospitals.

The seven-day molecular positivity rate for Thursday is 12.4%, and the seven-day antigen positivity rate is 9.33%. The TSA P percentage is 19.98%.

Location Breakdown of New Cases

• New Braunfels – 111
• North of Canyon Lake – 11
• South of Canyon Lake – 14
• South Comal County (Garden Ridge) – 10
• Bulverde/Spring Branch – 26
• Fair Oaks – 1

Age Range of New Cases

• Under 20 – 37 (includes two infants under 12 months of age)
• 20s – 24
• 30’s/40’s – 55
• 50s/60s – 50
• 70 and older – 7

Testing Information

As of Thursday morning, Public Health reports

• 138,398 tests conducted
• 8,060 confirmed cases
• 6,422 probable cases
• 24 suspect cases

Location Breakdown of All Cases

Of the 14,506 confirmed-and-probable COVID-19 cases in Comal County, the location breakdown is:

• New Braunfels (includes Eastern and Central Comal) – 10,116
• Western Comal County (includes Bulverde and Spring Branch) – 2,147
• South of Canyon Lake – 919
• North of Canyon Lake – 763
• Southern Comal County (includes Garden Ridge and Schertz) – 497
• Fair Oaks Ranch – 64

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.