Comal ending daily updates on COVID
COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have dwindled so much that Comal County will stop publishing daily totals on its website after next week.
Though the county health department will continue to submit data to the state each day as required, county Public Information Officer Cary Zayas said the daily dashboard on the county website will come down after Oct. 14 and that officials will no longer send out weekly news releases with the number of cases for the week.
In its weekly COVID-19 update last Friday, the county reported 102 new cases between Sept. 23 and Sept. 29. Five Covidpositive patients were hospitalized in the county during that period. There was no new death reported, leaving the county’s total number of deceased people at 565.
On Jan. 11, during the height of the omicron variant surge, there were 44 hospitalizations, said Jennifer Conger, county public health communications specialist. On Wednesday, there were three.
The most recent COVID-19 death in the county came during the first half of August. During that week, from Aug. 5 to 11, there were 471 new COVID-19 cases in the county and six people hospitalized, with about 62 percent of residents ages 6 months and older fully vaccinated. As of last week, about 63 percent were.
Ten people in the county’s public health department and a few others in other departments have worked on the dashboard and news releases every week. Conger said ending those two forms of communication will allow officials to focus more on other efforts such as immunizations and flu clinics.
The county launched the dashboard in March 2020. Shortly after, officials started sending out daily news releases, but those were dropped to weekly this April.
Conger said the decision to end the dashboard and news releases largely owes to the decline in the number of hospitalizations in the county. She said that figure is important because it helps officials know whether COVID-19 patients are swamping hospitals.
Zayas said the increase in home testing has made it difficult for the county to provide accurate data. Conger said people do have an option to report their home test results to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention but that because not everyone follows that recommendation, it is difficult to know whether the case counts the county has are accurate.
Residents still will be able to see a daily update of virus data on the Texas Department of State Health Services website. The county will continue to post pandemic-related information on its public health website at co.comal.tx.us/health.htm. Conger said this will include information about vaccines or spikes if those occur.
Conger said that if there is a spike in case numbers or hospitalizations, the county will re-introduce the dashboard and news releases.
COVID-19 testing sites in Comal County can be found on the Texas Division of Emergency Management website at meds.tdem.texas.gov.
The county’s public health department is administering COVID-19 vaccines for people 6 months and older. Bivalent booster vaccines are also being administered. To make an appointment, call 830-221-1150.