Comal County Confirms Four Deaths, Reports 146 New COVID-19 Cases Thursday

Comal County confirmed the COVID-19 deaths of four residents today and reported 146 new cases of the virus.

Dead are:

• A Canyon Lake woman in her 80s who passed away Aug. 27 at a New Braunfels hospital.
• A New Braunfels woman in her 80s who passed away Aug. 27 at home.
• A New Braunfels man in his 80s who passed away Aug. 26 at a New Braunfels hospital.
• A New Braunfels woman in her 80s who passed away Aug. 17.

In a statement, Public Information Officer Cary Zayas said 75 of the new cases are confirmed and 71 are probable cases.

Forty-eight of the new cases are in residents under the age of 20. Two of them are infants under the age of 12 months.

The total number of deceased is now 376. Another 170 recoveries were reported for a total of 14,118. Some 15,934 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Comal County since March 2020.

There are currently 1,440 active, confirmed-and-probable cases in the county. Of those, 29 residents are hospitalized.

County hospitals are caring for 87 COVID-19 patients. Twenty-five are in intensive care and 17 are on ventilators.

Approximately 98% 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 is 13.64%, and the seven-day antigen positivity rate is 6.97%. The TSA P percentage is 19.36%.

Location Breakdown of New Cases

• New Braunfels – 86
• North of Canyon Lake – 11
• South of Canyon Lake – 7
• South Comal County (Garden Ridge) – 7
• Bulverde/Spring Branch – 34
• Fair Oaks – 1

Age Range of New Cases

• Under 20 – 48 (includes two infants under 12 months old)
• 20s – 13
• 30’s/40’s – 43
• 50s/60s – 32
• 70 and older – 10

Testing Information

As of Thursday morning, Public Health reports

• 150,188 tests conducted
• 9,007 confirmed cases
• 6,903 probable cases
• 24 suspect cases

Location Breakdown of All Cases

Of the 15,934 confirmed-and-probable COVID-19 cases in Comal County, the location breakdown is:

• New Braunfels (includes Eastern and Central Comal) – 10,970
• Western Comal County (includes Bulverde and Spring Branch) – 2,418
• South of Canyon Lake – 1,042
• North of Canyon Lake – 883
• Southern Comal County (includes Garden Ridge and Schertz) – 548
• Fair Oaks Ranch – 73

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.

This includes a third dose of either vaccine for anyone who is moderately to severely immunocompromised.

“COVID numbers are at an all-time high and getting vaccinated is still our best shield against the virus,” Public Health Director Cheryl Fraser said in a statement Aug. 30. “We encourage those who have not received the vaccine to consider it. Individuals who are immunocompromised and qualify for the third dose are now eligible to receive it. The hospitals are finding that most of the COVID patients are unvaccinated and very ill.”

People who meet the following criteria are now eligible for a third dose of Moderna or Pfizer mRNA COVID-19 vaccine at least four weeks after a second dose:

• Been receiving active cancer treatment for tumors or cancers of the blood.
• Received an organ transplant and are taking medicine to suppress the immune system.
• Received a stem cell transplant within the last two years or are taking medicine to suppress the immune system.
• Moderate or severe primary immunodeficiency (such as DiGeorge or Wiskott-Aldrich syndromes).
• Advanced or untreated HIV infection.
• Active treatment with high-dose corticosteroids or other drugs that may suppress the immune system.

Those who received either a Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine series should receive a third dose of the same mRNA vaccine. No additional doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccine are currently recommended.

For more information about COVID-19 vaccines for moderately to severely immunocompromised people, visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.

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.