Two Deaths, 156 New COVID-19 Cases Reported in Comal County Tuesday

Comal County reported two deaths, 156 new cases of COVID-19 and 108 recoveries from the virus today.

Dead are:

• A New Braunfels man in his 80s who died Aug. 25 at a New Braunfels hospital.
• A Spring Branch man in his 80s who died Aug. 23 at a San Antonio hospital.

In a statement, Public Information Officer Cary Zayas said 107 of the new cases are confirmed and 49 are probable cases.

The total number of deceased is now 371. Total recoveries stand at 13,731. Some 15,659 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Comal County since March 2020.

There are currently 1,557 active, confirmed-and-probable cases in the county. Of those, 28 residents are hospitalized.

County hospitals are caring for 73 COVID-19 patients. Nineteen are in intensive care and 14 are on ventilators.

Approximately 97% 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.

The seven-day molecular positivity rate  is 14.80%, and the seven-day antigen positivity rate is 9.73%. The TSA P percentage is 19.16%.

Location Breakdown of New Cases

• New Braunfels – 85
• North of Canyon Lake – 15
• South of Canyon Lake – 13
• South Comal County (Garden Ridge) – 8
• Bulverde/Spring Branch – 33
• Fair Oaks – 2

Age Range of New Cases

• Under 20 – 26
• 20s – 21
• 30’s/40’s – 60
• 50s/60s – 36
• 70 and older – 13

Testing Information

As of Tuesday morning, Public Health reports

• 146,601 tests conducted
• 8,838 confirmed cases
• 6,797 probable cases
• 24 suspect cases

Location Breakdown of All Cases

Of the 15,659 confirmed-and-probable COVID-19 cases in Comal County, the location breakdown is:

• New Braunfels (includes Eastern and Central Comal) – 10,803
• Western Comal County (includes Bulverde and Spring Branch) – 2,351
• South of Canyon Lake – 1,030
• North of Canyon Lake – 866
• Southern Comal County (includes Garden Ridge and Schertz) – 537
• Fair Oaks Ranch – 72

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.

The Pfizer vaccine is now fully approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Anyone who hasn’t received the Moderna vaccine can ask to receive the Pfizer shot.

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.