Hays County experienced its first death from the COVID-19 virus on Monday, April 13. The county said a woman in her 80s who was staying with a relative in Buda succumbed to the disease. Her death came roughly one month after the county’s first recorded “presumptive” positive case.
Along with that announcement came an additional 19 positive tests Monday, bringing the total number of people in the county who have tested positive to 93. The addition of 10 cases on Tuesday brought the total number to 103.
59 of those cases are considered active, while 43 people have recovered. There have been 604 negative tests. 10 people have been hospitalized in Austin or San Antonio and 2 are currently in a hospital.
Testing is available only to health care workers, first responders and residents who have symptoms including a cough, fever and difficulty breathing. Anyone tested in Hays County needs to have a doctor’s order and that can come through a “virtual” or tele-medicine visit.
The city with the highest number of positive cases is Kyle with 43, followed by San Marcos with 31, Buda with 18, Dripping Springs with 4, Wimberley with 3 cases, Driftwood with one and four cases occurred among Hays County residents with Austin addresses.
County authorities say one reason Kyle has the greatest number of positives is because there are more drive-through testing locations there than elsewhere. Based on the latest numbers, Hays County has an infection rate of 14.5 percent.
County Judge Ruben Becerra reiterated his prediction in Tuesday’s meeting of the Commissioners Court that 50 percent of the county would eventually contract the novel coronavirus, but that only 20 percent of those people are potentially vulnerable — a category that includes the elderly and those with underlying conditions that might dampen their immune system. Becerra and the county’s Emergency Operations Manager Alex Villalobos pointed out that currently less than one percent of Hays County residents have been tested for the airborne virus.
Much of Tuesday’s meeting centered on the procedures and protocols for testing and who is actually allowed to be tested. Among items front and center were inconsistencies associated with the testing system announced two weeks ago. A press release from Reliant Immune Diagnostics issued subsequent to a press conference that Becerra attended in Austin on March 30 inaccurately referenced “in-home testing” when, in fact, the company MDBox offers “in home monitoring” through tele-medicine, Dr. Amy Altman, chief operations officer for Reliant Immune Diagnostics, told the court and the Hays Free Press via email.
“We are and have been actively reaching out to anyone who purchased an MDBox tele-medicine visit thinking they purchased an in-home COVID-19 test to give them full refunds and a free tele-medicine visit on MDBox.com,” Altman said. In court, she specified that a woman interviewed for a story on KVUE received a refund within 12 hours.
The press release also said that the testing kits would be available through H-E-B online, something the company denies.
In his remarks to the court, Villalobos noted that there is currently not enough testing “to shape public policy” on how to move forward. Commissioners also addressed setting an amount the county is comfortable with spending to increase the availability of tests.
Along with more testing will be the need for more personal protective equipment (PPE). The nasal swab tests for the COVID-19 virus often triggers the person being tested to cough or sneeze, meaning the health care provider administering it will need new PPE before testing the next person.
Commissioners also discussed moving forward in the weeks ahead with possibly allowing some businesses to reopen. “Since last week I’ve been working on what a turn looks like,” Becerra said, including “easing of isolation, recalibration of essential businesses and applying more testing.”
Some of those additional resources may be forthcoming, as commissioners also approved the execution of a grant contract with the Department of State Health Services in the amount of $150,839 for PPE, testing supplies and associated needs.
