Gov. Greg Abbott talks Hays County coronavirus spike, but numbers don’t match health department report

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told viewers of his June 16 press conference regarding coronavirus hospitalizations that Hays County, while setting a record for new cases that day, had zero cases reported for two straight days prior to the record. Not so, according to Hays County Local Health Department Epidemiologist Eric Schneider at his own press conference June 17.

When asked about the governor’s information, Schneider said the county reports its numbers to the state of Texas seven days a week. According to the county’s statistics, the daily tally has not been zero since June 7.

Hays County reported 99 new cases June 12, 142 on June 13, 54 on June 14, 69 on June 15 and a record 155 on June 16.

Since the county dashboard of statistics started March 30, zero cases were reported April 11, May 10, May 16, May 17, May 24, May 25, May 30, June 6 and June 7. The highest case counts of the whole pandemic have come daily since June 8.

Of the county’s more than 1,000 cases of coronavirus, 568 have been in the 20-29 age group, which drew Abbott’s ire during the June 16 press conference.

“The majority of the people are under the age of 30, going to bar-type settings,” Abbott said of the Hays County cases.

Abbott said the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission may impose 30-day suspensions of liquor licenses if businesses violate the terms of reopening. A second offense would be 60 days.

Schneider agreed bars have had an effect on the number of cases rising and also said floating area rivers and the protests have contributed to the spike.