Three new deaths have also been reported since Dec. 11, all of whom were New Braunfels residents, which puts the county death toll at 138. The deaths were those of a man in his 80s who passed away Dec. 9, a woman in her 70s who passed away Dec. 11 and a man in his 60s who passed away Dec. 12. As of Dec. 15, the county has 785 active, confirmed cases, the highest such figure reported since early August.
The testing positivity rate stands at 26.18%, down from 29.58% as of Dec. 14. The county’s positivity rate has remained above 20% since Dec. 4, when it was 20.46%. As of Dec. 15, Comal County hospitals reported caring for 54 COVID-19 patients, 17 of whom are in intensive care and nine of whom are on ventilators, up from seven as of Dec. 11. Comal County also reported that 37 county residents are currently hospitalized with the coronavirus, though not all county residents are hospitalized within county hospitals, down from 51 residents who were hospitalized as of Dec. 11. According to data from the Texas DSHS, Guadalupe County reported a total of 93 new confirmed cases from Dec. 10-15, which makes a total of 4,928 confirmed cases since March 16. The county has also reported a total of 876 probable cases since the beginning of the pandemic, for a total of 5,804 confirmed and probable cases.
Among the reported cases, 312 are active. A total of 92 Guadalupe County deaths have been reported to the Texas DSHS.
Comal ISD and New Braunfels ISD have been reporting symptomatic cases as well as incidents of exposure to a case since the beginning of the school year.
Exposure to a positive case includes being directly exposed to fluids from the mouth or nose of an infected person or being within six feet of an infected person for 15 minutes or more without a face covering.
As of Dec. 14, NBISD reported that here were 42 current cases, 66 symptomatic cases and 470 exposures to a lab-confirmed case, up from 316 as of Dec. 9. A total of 161 confirmed cases have been reported in NBISD: 113 students and 48 staff members.
CISD reported that there were 87 current cases, 76 symptomatic cases and 455 exposures to a lab-confirmed case as of Dec. 14, up from 374 exposures as of Dec. 9.
Residents who wish to be tested can call the county’s hotline at 830-221-1120 from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday to schedule an appointment. Testing is conducted on Tuesdays and Fridays.
Individuals may also utilize the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ online search tool to find a testing site.
