Tuesday: Comal County Reports 160 New COVID-19 Cases, Two Deaths
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Comal County reported 160 new COVID-19 cases and two deaths today.
Dead are:
- A New Braunfels woman in her 50s who died Aug. 30 at a New Braunfels hospital.
- A Spring Branch man in his 80s who died Sept. 10 at home.
Today’s numbers also include cases reported on Saturday and Sunday.
Eighty-seven of the new cases are confirmed and 73 are probable cases, Comal County Public Information Officer Cary Zayas said in a statement. The total number of deceased is now 407. The county also reported 149 recoveries from the virus.
There are now 1,576 active, confirmed-and-probable cases in the county today. Of those, 40 people are hospitalized.
The seven-day molecular positivity rate is 12.69%, and the seven-day antigen positivity rate is 9.60%. The TSA P percentage is 13.38%.
County hospitals are caring for 53 COVID-19 cases. Fifteen patients are in intensive care and nine are on ventilators.
Approximately 94% of these patients are unvaccinated.
Not all patients in Comal County hospitals are necessarily county residents. Not all county residents hospitalized with COVID-19 are in Comal County hospitals.
Location Breakdown of New Cases
- New Braunfels – 93
- North of Canyon Lake – 11
- South of Canyon Lake – 18
- South Comal County (Garden Ridge) – 8
- Bulverde/Spring Branch – 29
- Fair Oaks – 1
Age Range of New Cases
- Under 20 – 40 (includes one infant under 12 months of age)
- 20’s – 19
- 30’s/40’s – 58
- 50’s/60’s – 33
- 70 and older – 11
Testing Information
As of Tuesday morning, Public Health reports
- 167,875 tests conducted
- 10,228 confirmed cases
- 7,670 probable cases
- 24 suspect cases
Location Breakdown of All Cases
Of the 17,922 confirmed-and-probable COVID-19 cases in Comal County, the location breakdown is:
- New Braunfels (includes Eastern and Central Comal) – 12,090
- Western Comal County (includes Bulverde and Spring Branch) – 2,878
- South of Canyon Lake – 1,241
- North of Canyon Lake – 1,030
- Southern Comal County (includes Garden Ridge and Schertz) – 601
- Fair Oaks Ranch – 82
Vaccinations
Comal County’s Public Health Department is now administering Moderna COVID-19 vaccines to those 18 years and older and Pfizer vaccines for anyone 12 years and older.
This includes a third dose of either vaccine for anyone who is moderately to severely immunocompromised.
People who meet the following criteria are now eligible for a third dose of Moderna or Pfizer mRNA COVID-19 vaccine at least four weeks after a second dose:
- Been receiving active cancer treatment for tumors or cancers of the blood.
- Received an organ transplant and are taking medicine to suppress the immune system.
- Received a stem cell transplant within the last two years or are taking medicine to suppress the immune system.
- Moderate or severe primary immunodeficiency (such as DiGeorge or Wiskott-Aldrich syndromes).
- Advanced or untreated HIV infection.
- Active treatment with high-dose corticosteroids or other drugs that may suppress the immune system.
Those who received either a Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine series should receive a third dose of the same mRNA vaccine. No additional doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccine are currently recommended.
For more information about COVID-19 vaccines for moderately to severely immunocompromised people, visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.
Fraser told Commissioners Court today the flu vaccine will be available to county residents sometime in the next several weeks. She said it can be administered at the same time as a COVID-19 vaccine.
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.
