Easter Activity Could Result in New COVID-19 Cases

Comal County will see an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases reported in about a week or so, Office of Public Health Director Cheryl Fraser told Commissioners Court on Thursday, April 16.

Cellphone tracking data provided by unacast and calls to the county’s COVID-19 hotline over the Easter weekend point to increased “activity” across the county.

Fraser said callers reported a lack of compliance with social-distancing recommendations. unacast also provides a social-distancing scoreboard.

“We would expect this to lead to an increase in COVID-19 cases in about a week or so,” she said.

“We’re still in the acceleration phase of the virus locally…we still have a couple more weeks to go before we expect to see the curve bend backwards.”

Fraser acknowledged that six deaths out of 43 confirmed cases of COVID-19 seems high, but can be explained by the fact Comal County still doesn’t know the actual number of cases in its jurisdiction.

She said “bed availability” in Comal County is at 49.1 percent with 136 empty staffed beds out of 283. Twenty-four ventilators are available. No hospitals are on “divert” status.