On Dec. 15, Hays County saw its largest single-day increase in COVID-19 deaths of residents due to the coronavirus since the pandemic began, with the deaths of three women from Kyle and three men from San Marcos reported by the Hays County Local Health Department. The residents ranged in age from their 40s to their 90s, with their deaths occurring between Dec. 3 and Dec. 15.
A total of 113 residents were known to have died because of the virus as of Dec. 15, according to county data. There were 11 deaths reported between Dec. 1 and Dec. 15.
On Dec. 15, there were 1,361 county cases reported as active to the county over the previous three-week period. The surge in new cases that began in mid-October has continued to pick up speed with the seven-day average for new cases breaking above 400 in the county's reporting on Dec. 10 and Dec. 14. That rate has steadily grown from double-digit numbers in mid-October. As of Dec. 15, the seven-day positivity rate for testing was 9.91%, a high point since testing significantly increased at the beginning of October. Hays County's total lab-confirmed case count was 8,340 on Dec. 15, with an additional 997 probable cases reported. At the end of November, there were 7,378 lab-confirmed cases and 886 probable cases, representing a 13.04% and 12.53% increase from Nov. 30 to Dec. 15, respectively.
In December, active hospitalizations of Hays County residents ranged from a low of seven on Dec. 11 to a high of 16 Dec. 14-15. There have been a total of 465 COVID-19 hospitalizations.
During a San Marcos City Council meeting, Director of Public Safety Chase Stapp said that 8% of regional hospital beds were COVID-19 patients on Dec. 14. "As a reminder, if we were to get to 15% and maintain that for a seven-day consecutive time period, that could trigger additional restrictions in Gov. Greg Abbott's order," Stapp said.
He also told City Council that an audit of San Marcos cases by Hays County found a significant number of active cases among the city's residents not previously attributed to the city's case count. According to county data, there were 233 San Marcos residents with active cases Dec. 15. In local school districts, Hays CISD reported 44 new cases during the week of Dec. 7, its largest weekly increase during the fall semester. A total of 173 cases—71 staffers and 102 students—have been reported by the district to date. HCISD is seeking higher priority for staff vaccinations and will implement new COVID-19 policies in the new year.
San Marcos CISD cases were also trending upward in recent reporting by the district. Of the 86 cases reported between the beginning of the fall semester and Dec. 7, 44 were student cases and 42 were staff cases. Fourteen cases were reported for the week of Dec. 7.
