Five More Deaths, 62 New Cases of COVID-19 Reported in Comal County

Comal County’s COVID-19 death toll rose by five today after the Office of Public Health confirmed reports from area nursing homes.

Deaths reported to the county on Aug. 17 include:

• A man in his 90s who lived at Kirkwood Manor in New Braunfels died at home on July 18.
• A man in his 70s and a man in his 80s who lived at Kirkwood Manor in New Braunfels; both died in a San Antonio hospital on July 30.
• A man in his 80s who lived at Kirkwood Manor in New Braunfels died in a New Braunfels hospital on July 30.
• A female in her 90s who lived at Kirkwood Manor in New Braunfels died on August 2.

Sixty-two new cases of the virus also were reported today, bumping the positivity rate to 16.27 percent, up from 15.99 percent on Tuesday.

Of the 62 new cases, 56 are confirmed and six are probable; 55 are New Braunfels-area residents, two are from the Bulverde/Spring Branch area, one lives south of Canyon Lake, one lives north of Canyon Lake, and three are from the Garden Ridge area. Seven are younger than 30, eight are in their 30s or 40s, 16 are in their 50s or 60s, and 31 are older than 70.

Comal County also confirmed 42 more recoveries from COVID-19, for a total of 2,229. With 77 deaths, the county now has 528 active confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases. Of them, 77 are hospitalized.

On Wednesday, Comal County hospitals reported caring for 13 COVID-19 patients; of those, eight are in intensive care beds, and seven are on ventilators. Not all of these patients are necessarily county residents; likewise, not all county residents hospitalized with COVID-19 are in Comal County hospitals.

Wednesday’s Statistics

• 17,421 tests conducted
• 2,256 confirmed cases
• 578 probable cases

Location Breakdown

Of the 2,834 confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases in Comal County, the location breakdown is:

• 2,163 from the New Braunfels area, including eastern and central Comal County
• 389 from western Comal County, including Bulverde and Spring Branch
• 132 from south of Canyon Lake
• 77 from north of Canyon Lake, including Fischer
• 65 from southern Comal County, including Garden Ridge and Schertz
• 8 from Fair Oaks Ranch

Probable case definition

“Probable cases” 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 following three criteria:

• A positive quick-result antigen test
• Experiencing COVID-19 symptoms
• Close contact with a confirmed positive COVID-19 case

A probable case is treated identically to a confirmed case and counts toward the county’s positivity rate and total case tally.