Comal County Reports 79 New COVID-19 Cases, One Death; Changes the Way Positivity Rate Is Reported
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Comal County reported 79 new COVID-19 cases and one death today, bringing the number of active cases to 799. Of those, 48 are hospitalized.
A man New Braunfels man in his 70s passed away on Nov. 26. The total number of deceased is now 139.
Fifty-one of the new cases are confirmed and 28 are probable cases.
In a statement, the county said it now follows State of Texas Department of State Health Services’ new guidlines for reporting the seven-day positivity rate. The positivity rate will now split into two categories:
- Molecular – Calculates the percent positive only for PCR tests.
- Antigen – Calculaes percent positive only for antigen tests.
Comal county’s seven-day molecular positivity rate for Wednesday is 11.84%. The seven-day antigen positivity rate for Wednesday is 12.09%.
The county also confirmed 64 recoveries from COVID-19, for a total of 4,566.
County spokesperson Cary Zayas said she does not know when the first Comal County resident will be vaccinated.
On Wednesday, Comal County hospitals reported caring for 50 COVID-19 patients. Of those, 17 are in intensive care and nine are on ventilators. Not all of these patients are necessarily county residents. Not all county residents hospitalized with COVID-19 are in county hospitals.
Comal County’s Public Health Department urges residents to follow CDC guidelines for wearing a face covering, social distancing, staying home when sick and using proper hand hygiene.
Location Breakdown of New Cases
New Braunfels – 57
North of Canyon Lake – 3
South of Canyon Lake – 5
S. Comal County (Garden Ridge) – 2
Bulverde/Spring Branch – 12
Fair Oaks – 0
Age Range of New Cases
Under 20 – 10
20’s – 6
30’s/40’s – 22
50’s/60’s – 23
70 and older – 18
Testing Information
As of Monday morning, Public Health reports
- 39,453 tests conducted
- 3,709 confirmed cases
- 1,790 probable cases
- 5 suspect cases
Location Breakdown of All Cases
Of the 5,504 confirmed-and-probable COVID-19 cases, the location breakdown is:
New Braunfels (includes Eastern and Central Comal) – 3,964
Western Comal County (includes Bulverde and Spring Branch) – 837
South of Canyon Lake – 297
North of Canyon Lake – 209
Southern Comal County (includes Garden Ride and Schertz) – 176
Fair Oaks Ranch – 21
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.
