Comal County today reported 57 new COVID-19 cases and 13 deaths from the virus. Two of the dead lived in Canyon Lake.

In a statement, the county said 11 of the new cases are confirmed cases and 46 are probable cases.

Dead are:

• A Spring Branch woman in her 70s who died on Jan. 5 at a New Braunfels hospital
• A Canyon Lake man in his 50s who died on Jan. 12 at a San Antonio hospital
• A New Braunfels woman in her 50s who died on Jan. 14 at a New Braunfels hospital
• A New Braunfels man in his 60s who died on Jan. 16 at a New Braunfels hospital
• A Spring Branch man in 60s who died on Jan. 17 at a New Braunfels hospital
• A Canyon Lake man in his 80s who died on Jan. 17 at a New Braunfels hospital
• A New Braunfels man in his 80s who died on Jan. 18
• A New Braunfels woman in her 80s who died on Jan. 18
• A New Braunfels man in his 70s who died at a New Braunfels hospital
• A New Braunfels woman in her 90s who died on Jan. 20
• A New Braunfels woman in her 70s who died on Jan. 21
• A New Braunfels woman in her 90s who died on Jan. 23
• A New Braunfels woman in her 80s who died on Jan. 24

The county now has a 620 active, confirmed-and-probable cases. Of those, 94 are hospitalized. The total number of deceased is now 255.

Total recovered is 7,269. The seven-day molecular positivity rate is 44.34%. The seven-day antigen positivity rate is 5.90%. Trauma Service P — which includes Comal County — is at 19.45%.

On Monday, Comal County hospitals reported caring for 58 COVID-19 patients. Of those, 26 are in intensive care and 15 are on ventilators. Not all of these patients are necessarily county residents. Not all county residents hospitalized with COVID-19 are in county hospitals.

Location Breakdown of New Cases

New Braunfels – 26
North of Canyon Lake – 12
South of Canyon Lake – 4
S. Comal County (Garden Ridge) – 1
Bulverde/Spring Branch – 13
Fair Oaks – 1

Age Range of New Cases

Under 20 – 17 (includes two infants under the age of 12 months)
20’s – 5
30’s/40’s – 19
50s/60s – 7
70 and older – 9

Testing Information

As of Monday morning, Public Health reports

• 60,474 tests conducted
• 4,313 confirmed cases
• 3,817 probable cases
• 14 suspect cases

Location Breakdown of All Cases

Of the 8,144 confirmed-and-probable COVID-19 cases, the location breakdown is:

New Braunfels (includes Eastern and Central Comal) – 5,960
Western Comal County (includes Bulverde and Spring Branch) – 1,132
South of Canyon Lake – 444
North of Canyon Lake – 343
Southern Comal County (includes Garden Ridge and Schertz) – 232
Fair Oaks Ranch – 33

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 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 towards the total case tally. Supportive laboratory evidence means:

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