Comal County Adds 43 New COVID-19 Cases Wednesday

Comal County reported 43 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, bringing the total number of cases to 11,931.

In a statement, Public Information Officer Cary Zayas said 27 are confirmed and 16 are probable cases.

There are 418 active, confirmed-and-probable cases in the county today. Of those, 18 residents are hospitalized. Total number of deceased remains 334.

Another two COVID-19 recoveries were reported, for a total of 11,178.

The seven-day molecular positivity rate is 7.49%. The seven-day antigen positivity rate is 7.82%. The TSA P percentage is 5.32%.

Also today, Comal County hospitals reported caring for 32 COVID-19 patients. Of those, nine are in intensive care and four are on ventilators. Not all of these patients are necessarily county residents. Not all county residents hospitalized with COVID-19 are in Comal County hospitals.

Zayas said there are no confirmed cases of the highly contagious Delta variant in the Comal County.

“Texas is in a race to fully vaccinate more people before Delta spikes hospitalizations and cases even further,” Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) said on Twitter. “Get your first or second dose today.”

The state reported 2,684 new confirmed cases (seven-day average), 23 fatalities (seven-day average) and 3,566 current hospitalizations.

According to today’s statistics from DSHS, 60.81% of Comal County residents ages 12 and older have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, 53.38% of those ages 12 and older are fully vaccinated, 88.47% of those ages 65 and older have received at least one dose of the vaccine, and 80.63% of those ages 65 and older are fully vaccinated.

Location Breakdown of New Cases

• • New Braunfels – 24

• North of Canyon Lake – 2
• South of Canyon Lake – 6
• South Comal County (Garden Ridge) – 3
• Bulverde/Spring Branch – 7
• Fair Oaks – 0

Age Range of New Cases

• Under 20 – 11
• 20s – 6
• 30’s/40’s – 12
• 50s/60s – 6
• 70 and older – 7

Testing Information

As of this morning, Public Health reports

• 117,550 tests conducted
• 6,412 confirmed cases
• 5,495 probable cases
• 24 suspect cases

Location Breakdown of All Cases

Of the 11,931 confirmed-and-probable COVID-19 cases in Comal County, the location breakdown is:

• New Braunfels (includes Eastern and Central Comal) – 8,474
• Western Comal County (includes Bulverde and Spring Branch) – 1,708
• South of Canyon Lake – 691
• North of Canyon Lake – 576
• Southern Comal County (includes Garden Ridge and Schertz) – 426
• Fair Oaks Ranch – 55

Vaccinations

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

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.