New Braunfels, Bulverde/Spring Branch Add 23 New Cases of COVID-19

Comal County reported 23 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, 17 in New Braunfels and six in the Bulverde/Spring Branch area.

Seven of them are backlogged cases just now being added to the county’s database. Of the new cases, all 16 are probable.

The seven-day positivity rate is 7.31%.

There are 185 active, confirmed-and-probable cases in the county. Of those, four are hospitalized. Another 11 COVID-19 recoveries also were reported in today’s statement from county Public Information Officer Cary Zayas.

On Monday, Comal County hospitals reported caring for nine COVID-19 patients. Three are in intensive care and one is on a ventilator. Not all of these patients are necessarily county residents. Not all county residents hospitalized with COVID-19 are in county hospitals.

Age Range of New Cases

Under 20 – 1
20’s – 9
30’s/40’s – 4
50’s/60’s – 7
70 and older – 2

Location Breakdown of All Cases

Of the 3,941 Confirmed-and-Probable COVID-19 cases in Comal County, the location breakdown is:

New Braunfels (includes eastern and central Comal County) – 2,891
Western Comal County (includes Bulverde/Spring Branch) – 583
South of Canyon Lake – 194
North of Canyon Lake – 134
Southern Comal County (includes Garden Ridge and Schertz) – 127
Fair Oaks Ranch – 12

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.