Tuesday: 133 New, 626 Active Cases of COVID-19 Confirmed in Comal County

COVID-19 case counts surged in Comal County on Tuesday, with 133 new and 626 active, confirmed-and-probable cases of the virus reported.

These numbers include weekend totals, Comal County Public Information Officer Cary Zayas said.

Ninety-one of the new cases are confirmed and 42 are probable. Twenty-three of the new cases are in Canyon Lake residents. Of the 626 cases reported, nine are hospitalized.

Forty-four recoveries were added today, for a total of 11,304. The number of deceased remains 335.

On Tuesday, Comal County hospitals reported caring for 42 COVID-19 patients. Of those, 12 are in intensive care and four are on ventilators. Not all of these patients are necessarily county residents. Not all county residents hospitalized with COVID-19 are in Comal County hospitals.

The seven-day molecular positivity rate for Tueday is 9.82%. The seven-day antigen positivity rate is 6.38%. The TSA P percentage is 7.72%.

Location Breakdown of New Cases

• New Braunfels – 80
• North of Canyon Lake – 9
• South of Canyon Lake – 14
• South Comal County (Garden Ridge) – 3
• Bulverde/Spring Branch – 27
• Fair Oaks – 0

Age Range of New Cases

• Under 20 – 14
• 20s – 26
• 30’s/40’s – 49
• 50s/60s – 35
• 70 and older – 9

Testing Information

As of Tuesday morning, Public Health reports

• 121,252 tests conducted
• 6,638 confirmed cases
• 5,603 probable cases
• 24 suspect cases

Location Breakdown of All Cases

Of the 12,265 confirmed-and-probable COVID-19 cases in Comal County, the location breakdown is:

• New Braunfels (includes Eastern and Central Comal) – 8,667
• Western Comal County (includes Bulverde and Spring Branch) – 1,777
• South of Canyon Lake – 731
• North of Canyon Lake – 601
• Southern Comal County (includes Garden Ridge and Schertz) – 433
• Fair Oaks Ranch – 56

Vaccinations

Comal County’s Public Health Department is now administering Moderna COVID-19 vaccines to those 18 years and older on Fridays and Pfizer vaccines for anyone 12 years and older on Thursdays.

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.