Thursday: County Adds 17 New, Eight Backlogged COVID-19 Cases
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Comal County reported 17 new COVID-19 cases today and added eight backlogged cases to its database.
In a statement, the county said 16 of the cases are confirmed and nine are probable. The total number of cases now stands at 9,246.
Wednesday, the Public Health Department also confirmed the deaths of two more Comal County residents, a New Braunfels woman in her 80s who died Feb. 26 at a New Braunfels hospital, and a New Braunfels man in h is 80s who died the same day at a New Braunfels hospital. The total number of deceased is now 294.
The county now has 343 active, confirmed-and-probable cases of the virus. Forty-five residents are hospitalized.
An additional eight recoveries also were reported, for a total of 8,609 individuals.
The seven-day molecular positivity rate for Comal is now 56.95%. The seven-day antigen positivity rate is 9.67%. The Trauma Service Area (TSA) P percentage for Monday is 8.01%.
On Thursday, Comal County hospitals reported caring for 27 COVID-19 patients. Of those, 10 are in intensive care and seven 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 – 16
- North of Canyon Lake – 1
- South of Canyon Lake – 1
- South Comal County (Garden Ridge) – 2
- Bulverde/Spring Branch – 5
- Fair Oaks – 0
Age Range of New Cases
- Under 20 – 5
- 20’s – 6
- 30’s/40’s – 9
- 50’s/60’s – 3
- 70 and older – 2
Testing Information
As of Thursday morning, Public Health reports
- 65,855 tests conducted
- 4,874 confirmed cases
- 4,352 probable cases
- 20 suspect cases
Location Breakdown of All Cases
Of the 9,246 confirmed-and-probable COVID-19 cases, the location breakdown is:
- New Braunfels (includes Eastern and Central Comal) – 6,645
- Western Comal County (includes Bulverde and Spring Branch) – 1,331
- South of Canyon Lake – 525
- North of Canyon Lake – 411
- Southern Comal County (includes Garden Ridge and Schertz) – 291
- Fair Oaks Ranch – 43
Vaccines
The Comal County COVID-19 vaccine standby list is now full and closed. Residents interested in receiving a COVID-19 who meet the criteria in Phase 1A and Phase 1B of the State of Texas’ vaccination plan, should visit mycomalcounty.com or check Comal County’s Facebook page for more information about the status of the list. Vaccines will be distributed to the public as they are received by Comal County and according to distribution guidelines established by the state.
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.
