Comal County reported 74 additional COVID-19 cases today, bringing the number of active cases to 636. Of those, 43 are hospitalized.

Twenty-three of the new cases are confirmed and 51 are probable. The total number of deceased remains at 133.

The seven-day positivity rate for Tuesday in Comal County is 20.47%.

The county also confirmed an additional 49 recoveries from the virus, for a total of 4,365.

On Wednesday, Comal County hospitals reported caring for 46 COVID-19 patients. Of those, 14 are in intensive care and six 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 – 62
North of Canyon Lake – 5
South of Canyon Lake – 2
S. Comal County (Garden Ridge) – 2
Bulverde/Spring Branch – 3
Fair Oaks – 0

Age Range of New Cases

Under 20 – 9
20’s – 11
30’s/40’s – 25
50’s/60’s – 21
70 and older – 8

Testing Information

As of Wednesday morning, Public Health reports

• 37,995 tests conducted
• 3,537 confirmed cases
• 1,593 probable cases
• 4 suspect cases

Location Breakdown of All Cases

Of the 5,134 confirmed-and-probable COVID-19 cases, the location breakdown is:

New Braunfels (includes Eastern and Central Comal) – 3,702
Western Comal County (includes Bulverde and Spring Branch) – 789
South of Canyon Lake – 271
North of Canyon Lake – 187
Southern Comal County (includes Garden Ride and Schertz) – 165
Fair Oaks Ranch – 20

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.