Kerr County's COVID-19 death toll had one of its biggest jumps during the pandemic on Wednesday when the Texas Department of State Health Services reported four deaths.
While DSHS said the death toll for Kerr County is 123, The Lead believes the toll to be 180 people since the start of the pandemic. The latest deaths, all happening outside of Peterson Health, were on Sept. 24 and 29 and two deaths on Sept. 30.
At least 38 people have died since Aug. 1 in Kerr County, and DSHS is not done counting. It can take two weeks or more to file a death certificate and have it acknowledged by the state. So, it may take an additional two weeks before Kerr County's September death toll is known — right now, it stands at 19. DSHS and Kerr County do not recognize COVID-19 deaths at nursing homes and other care facilities. It does not appear the state has identified a death at Peterson since December of 2020.
While the number of hospitalized in Texas has continued to decline, case numbers are still strong, with more than 12,000 people testing positive on Wednesday. DSHS says 253 people have active infections in Kerr County, but the data's accuracy is unclear.
After looking like its numbers would fall below 10 people hospitalized, Peterson Regional Medical Center saw its COVID-19 admissions rise to 16 people on Wednesday — placing it back at Friday's count.
While the number of new cases Peterson reports is falling, hospitalizations continue to ebb and flow — plunging and rising again. Of those hospitalized, five were vaccinated against COVID-19 — a similar breakthrough rate in other parts of the state and nation.
Since Aug. 1, Peterson had a minimum of 96 people hospitalized.
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