COVID-19 Deaths of Six New Braunfels Residents Confirmed Tuesday

Six New Braunfels residents died of COVID-19 between Aug. 18 and Aug. 23.

In a statement Tuesday, Comal County confirmed the deaths of

• A New Braunfels man in his 70s who died Aug. 18 at a New Braunfels hospital.
• A New Braunfels man in his 60s who died at home on Aug. 22.
• A New Braunfels woman in her 70s who died on Aug. 18 at a New Braunfels hospital.
• A New Braunfels man in his 80s who died Aug. 21 at a New Braunfels hospital.
• A New Braunfels man in his 70s who died Aug. 23 at a New Braunfels hospital.
• A New Braunfels woman in her 50s who died Aug. 23 at a New Braunfels hospital.

The total number of deceased is now 360, Comal County Public Information Officer Cary Zayas said.

The county also added 170 new COVID-19 cases and reported 173 recoveries.

Of the new cases, 106 are confirmed and 64 are probable cases.

There are now 1,445 active, confirmed-and-probable cases in the county. Of those, 53 are hospitalized.

Today’s numbers include cases reported over the weekend.

County hospitals reported caring for 97 COVID-19 patients on Tuesday. Of those, 26 are in intensive care, and 19 are on ventilators.

Approximately 95% of these patients are unvaccinated.

Not all patients in Comal County hospitals are necessarily county residents. Not all county residents hospitalized with COVID-19 are in Comal County hospitals.

The seven-day molecular positivity rate for Tuesday is 15.49%, and the seven-day antigen positivity rate is 11%. The TSA P percentage is 21.14%.

Location Breakdown of New Cases

• New Braunfels – 111
• North of Canyon Lake – 10
• South of Canyon Lake – 14
• South Comal County (Garden Ridge) – 3
• Bulverde/Spring Branch – 32
• Fair Oaks – 0

Age Range of New Cases

• Under 20 – 26 (includes an infant under 12 months of age)
• 20s – 20
• 30’s/40’s – 60
• 50s/60s – 48
• 70 and older – 16

Testing Information

As of Tuesday morning, Public Health reports

• 141.589 tests conducted
• 8,442 confirmed cases
• 6,592 probable cases
• 24 suspect cases

Location Breakdown of All Cases

Of the 15,058 confirmed-and-probable COVID-19 cases in Comal County, the location breakdown is:

• New Braunfels (includes Eastern and Central Comal) – 10,450
• Western Comal County (includes Bulverde and Spring Branch) – 2,246
• South of Canyon Lake – 972
• North of Canyon Lake – 806
• Southern Comal County (includes Garden Ridge and Schertz) – 516
• Fair Oaks Ranch – 68

Vaccinations

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

The Pfizer vaccine is now fully approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Anyone who hasn’t received the Moderna vaccine can ask to receive the Pfizer shot.

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.