May 18: Another North Side Resident Tests Positive for COVID-19

Comal County reported on Monday that another resident from the north side of Canyon Lake tested positive for COVID-19.

The person is self-isolating.

Twelve people from north of Canyon Lake have now tested positive for the virus.

Altough the county does not release details about individuals who test positive, the popular Italian Garden Restaurant confirmed online that it closed on May 8 after an employee who also worked at a nearby business tested positive.

Italian Garden will reopen on May 22.

With six deaths and 56 recoveries, the county now has nine active COVID-19 caes, one of which remains hospitalized.

Antibody Testing

Also, 545 people have received COVID-19 antibody tests at the Office of Public Health.

Of those, seven have tested positive, indicating they had been infected with the novel coronavirus at some point in the past, with some results still pending.

Testing in Long-Term Care Facilities

Meanwhile, New Braunfels and Bulverde-Spring Branch firefighters will test nursing home residents this week, the county said in a statement.

Firefighters will visit five long-term care facilities, one in Bulverde and four in New Braunfels. A fifth New Braunfels facility has agreed to do its own testing.

Some 1,300 patients and staff will be tested by week’s end.

The Office of Public Health is helping to coordinate these test to comply with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s order that 100-percent of the state’s nursing home residents and staff be tested.

“These are among the most-vulnerable members of our community,” Comal County Public Health Director Cheryl Fraser said in a statement. “Conducting this testing will help give us a better picture of whether COVID-19 is in our nursing facilities.”

Assisted-living and standalone memory care facilities are not included in testing criteria issued by Texas Health and Human Services.

Monday’s Statistics

• 1,223 tests conducted
• 71 positive tests
• 1,078 negative tests
• 74 results still pending

Location Breakdown

Of the 71 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Comal County, the location breakdown is:

• 26 from New Braunfels or the immediate area
• 12 from the Bulverde area
• 12 from north of Canyon Lake
• 7 from eastern Comal County
• 3 from south of Canyon Lake
• 3 from Garden Ridge
• 3 from the Spring Branch area
• 2 from Fair Oaks Ranch
• 2 from southwest Comal County
• 1 from central Comal County

Information about COVID-19, as well as a list of county office reopenings and numbers to call for testing, is available at www.comalcountytx.com/covid19.

Residents with questions or concerns about the novel coronavirus can call the county’s dedicated COVID-19 hotline, 830-221-1120, between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.