The Texas Department of State Health Services said a Kerr County resident died on Aug. 16 from COVID-19 but did not indicate where the death occurred.
DSHS lists this as Kerr County's 98th death. It does not appear to be from a Peterson Regional Medical Center patient. Three patients died Aug. 14-15 at the Kerrville hospital, and none are accounted for on a DSHS spreadsheet. The discrepancy has been an ongoing issue, officially and finally, noted by Kerr County Emergency Management Coordinator William "Dub" Thomas last week.
In August, at least eight people have died between Peterson and hospitals in the San Antonio area. In a review of records by The Lead, DSHS has not recognized a COVID-19 death at Peterson since early December in its downloadable spreadsheet.
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County officials still don't recognize the more than 40 deaths as nursing homes, assisted living centers, the Kerrville State Hospital or the Kerrville Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
On Sunday, DSHS reported more than 12,000 new COVID-19 cases. The number of hospitalized moved to 13,100 people, and the number of available intensive care unit beds continued to dwindle statewide. The San Antonio area had more than 1,400 COVID-19 patients — nearly one-third in ICU — hospitalized. Peterson reported 30 people hospitalized on Friday — nearly 30% of its capacity dedicated to carrying for COVID-19 patients.
DSHS reported Kerr County had 214 active cases. It's unclear if that includes Peterson's numbers of more than 200, and another 67 reported by the Kerrville Independent School District.
Kerr County still ranked 18th out of 22 counties in the San Antonio area of DSHS vaccinations. Kerr County saw a 1% increase in the number of people who are fully vaccinated. DSHS reports 52% of county residents have had at least one shot.
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