Eleven Deaths and 113 New COVID-19 Cases: Comal County Delivers Grim Holiday Update
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The holiday season isn’t very merry in Comal County.
In its first update since Dec. 24, the county today reported 113 new cases of COVID-19 and 11 deaths from the virus. Hospitalizations rose and the number of cases reported in Bulverde/Spring Branch soared from five to 21. No recoveries were added.
The number of active, confirmed-and-probable cases in the county stands at 899, county Public Information Officer Cary Zayas said in a statement. Of those, 58 are hospitalized. Eighteen of the new cases are confirmed and 95 are probable. The seven-day molecular positivity rate for Tuesday is 24.39%. The seven-day antigen positivity rate is 19.31%.
Dead are:
- A New Braunfels woman in her 30s who died on Dec. 22
- A New Braunfels man in his 70s who died on Dec. 25
- Three New Braunfels women in their 80s who died on Dec. 25
- A New Braunfels man in his 80s who died on Dec. 26
- A New Braunfels woman in her 70s who died on Dec. 27
- A New Braunfels man in his 80s who died on Dec. 27
- A Spring Branch man in his 70s who died on Dec. 9
- A New Braunfels man in his 70s who died on Dec. 4
- A Canyon Lake woman in her 70s who died on Nov. 25
“We keep the families and friends of all these residents in our thoughts and prayers,” Zayas said.
Comal County hospitals today reported caring for 80 COVID-19 patients. Of those, 19 are in intensive care and 13 are on ventilators. Not all of these patients are necessarily county residents and not all county residents hospitalized with COVID-19 are in Comal County hospitals.
Location Breakdown of New Cases
New Braunfels – 75
North of Canyon Lake – 6
South of Canyon Lake – 8
S. Comal County (Garden Ridge) – 2
Bulverde/Spring Branch – 21
Fair Oaks – 1
Age Range of New Cases
Under 20 – 14 (includes an infant under 12 months)
20’s – 17
30’s/40’s – 37
50s/60s – 37
70 and older – 8
Testing Information
As of Thursday morning, Public Health reports
- 42,530 tests conducted
- 3,878 confirmed cases
- 2,235 probable cases
- 9 suspect cases
Location Breakdown of All Cases
Of the 6,122 confirmed-and-probable COVID-19 cases, the location breakdown is:
New Braunfels (includes Eastern and Central Comal) – 4,433
Western Comal County (includes Bulverde and Spring Branch) – 907
South of Canyon Lake – 338
North of Canyon Lake – 237
Southern Comal County (includes Garden Ridge and Schertz) – 184
Fair Oaks Ranch – 23
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.
