Ten More Comal County Residents Dead from COVID-19

Comal County today reported another nine residents died of COVID-19 in January and one in February, bringing the total number of deceased to 269.

Also confirmed are 44 new cases of COVID-19, for a total of 8,749 cases, Cary Zayas, public information officer, said in a statement. Of them, 19 are confirmed and 25 are probable cases.

The county now has 604 active, confirmed-and-probable cases of the virus. Seventy residents are hospitalized. Another 22 recoveries were reported, for a total of 7,606.

The seven-day molecular positivity rate is 37.39%. The seven-day antigen positivity rate is 7.55%. Trauma Service P — which includes Comal County — is at 15.92%.

Comal County hospitals on Monday reported caring for 50 COVID-19 patients. Of those, 22 are in intensive care and 16 are on ventilators. Not all of these patients are necessarily county residents. Not all county residents hospitalized with COVID-19 are in county hospitals.

Dead Are

• A Spring Branch woman in  her 60s who died Jan. 28 at a San Antonio hospital
• A New Braunfels man in his 60s who died Jan. 23 at a San Marcos hospital
• A New Braunfels man in his 70s who died Jan. 31 at a San Antonio hospital
• A Spring Branch woman in her 60s who died Jan. 26 at New Braunfels hospital
• A New Braunfels woman in her 70s who died Jan. 21 at a New Braunfels hospital
• A New Braunfels man in his 80s who died Feb. 1
• A Canyon Lake woman in her 70s who died Jan. 23 at a Sugarland hospital
• A New Braunfels man in his 80s who died Jan. 31 at a New Braunfels hospital
• A New Braunfels woman in her 50s who died on Jan. 28 at a New Braunfels hospital

Location Breakdown of New Cases

New Braunfels – 31
North of Canyon Lake – 1
South of Canyon Lake – 3
S. Comal County (Garden Ridge) – 2
Bulverde/Spring Branch – 7
Fair Oaks – 0

Age Range of New Cases

Under 20 – 8
20’s – 9
30’s/40’s – 13
50s/60s – 12
70 and older – 2

Testing Information

As of Monday morning, Public Health reports

• 63,247 tests conducted
• 4,422 confirmed cases
• 4,041 probable cases
• 16 suspect cases

Location Breakdown of All Cases

Of the 8,479 confirmed-and-probable COVID-19 cases, the location breakdown is:

New Braunfels (includes Eastern and Central Comal) – 6,168
Western Comal County (includes Bulverde and Spring Branch) – 1,188
South of Canyon Lake – 467
North of Canyon Lake – 359
Southern Comal County (includes Garden Ridge and Schertz) – 258
Fair Oaks Ranch – 39

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.