Thursday: 73 New COVID-19 Cases, Three Deaths Reported in Comal County
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Comal County’s Public Health Department reported 73 new cases of COVID-19 and three deaths today.
County Public Information Officer Cary Zayas said 44 are new cases and 29 are backlogged cases just added to county data. Of the new cases, 11 are confirmed and 33 are probable.
Dead are
- A Garden Ridge man in his 70s who died at a San Antonio hospital on Dec. 23, 2020
- A New Braunfels woman in her 90s who died at a New Braunfels hospital on Dec. 31, 2020
- A New Braunfels man in his 80s who died on Dec. 14, 2020 at a New Braunfels hospital.
The total number of deceased is now 180. The county has 702 active, confirmed-and-probable COVID-19 cases. Of those, 60 are hospitalized.
The seven-day molecular positivity rate is 12.87%. The seven-day antigen positivity rate is 10.86%. Trauma Service P — which includes Comal County — is at 21.51%.
On Thursday, Comal County hospitals reported caring for 90 COVID-19 patients. Of those, 13 are in intensive care and 11 are on ventilators. Not all of these patients are necessarily county residents. Not all county residents hospitalized with COVID-19 are in county hospitals.
Another 92 recoveries were reported, for a total of 5,824.
Location Breakdown of New Cases
New Braunfels – 59
North of Canyon Lake – 1
South of Canyon Lake – 1
S. Comal County (Garden Ridge) – 4
Bulverde/Spring Branch – 6
Fair Oaks – 2
Age Range of New Cases
Under 20 – 9
20’s – 10
30’s/40’s – 15
50s/60s – 13
70 and older – 26
Testing Information
As of Thursday morning, Public Health reports
- 47,426 tests conducted
- 3,950 confirmed cases
- 2,746 probable cases
- 10 suspect cases
Location Breakdown of All Cases
Of the 6,706 confirmed-and-probable COVID-19 cases, the location breakdown is:
New Braunfels (includes Eastern and Central Comal) – 4,915
Western Comal County (includes Bulverde and Spring Branch) – 954
South of Canyon Lake – 359
North of Canyon Lake – 259
Southern Comal County (includes Garden Ridge and Schertz) – 194
Fair Oaks Ranch – 25
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.
