Tuesday’s COVID-19 Numbers: 115 New Cases, One Death Reported in Comal County

Comal County reported 115 new cases of COVID-19 today and confirmed the death of a Spring Branch woman in her 60s who passed away in a San Antonio hospital on Aug. 2.

Today’s numbers include statistics from Saturday and Sunday.

Forty-two of the new cases are confirmed and 73 are probable. The total number of deceased is now 352.

There are 1,266 active, confirmed-and-probable cases of COVID-19 in the county. Of those, 48 are hospitalized.

Another 174 COVID-19 recoveries were reported today, for a total of 12,497.

County hospitals are now caring for 109 COVID-19 patients. Of those, 21 are in intensive care, and 10 are on ventilators.

Approximately 92% 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.

County Public Information Officer Cary Zayas said the seven-day molecular positivity rate for Tuesday is 7.54%, and the seven-day antigen positivity rate is 11.96%. The TSA P percentage is 18.92%.

Location Breakdown of New Cases

• New Braunfels – 74
• North of Canyon Lake – 7
• South of Canyon Lake – 11
• South Comal County (Garden Ridge) – 0
• Bulverde/Spring Branch – 23
• Fair Oaks – 0

Age Range of New Cases

• Under 20 – 13
• 20s – 21
• 30’s/40’s – 37
• 50s/60s – 29
• 70 and older – 14

Testing Information

As of Tuesday morning, Public Health reports

• 136,408 tests conducted
• 7,747 confirmed cases
• 6,344 probable cases
• 24 suspect cases

Location Breakdown of All Cases

Of the 14,115 confirmed-and-probable COVID-19 cases in Comal County, the location breakdown is:

• New Braunfels (includes Eastern and Central Comal) – 9,859
• Western Comal County (includes Bulverde and Spring Branch) – 2,083
• South of Canyon Lake – 892
• North of Canyon Lake – 737
• Southern Comal County (includes Garden Ridge and Schertz) – 482
• Fair Oaks Ranch – 62

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.

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.