The Texas Department of State Health Services rolled back some of its reporting on COVID-19, including a real-time look at active cases.
On a day when DSHS reported 69,000 new cases and 151 newly confirmed fatalities, the state agency switched up its dashboard with plenty of new features — just nothing helpful locally.
Instead, the DSHS website will send you to its county dashboard, which attempts to provide that real-time look. However, it's nowhere close to accurately reflecting what's happening here. On Friday, Peterson Health reported more than 200 new cases in its system. So, how active is the virus in Kerr County? No one really seems to know.
The Lead believes the numbers are more than 500 active cases.
What we do know is that hospitalizations crested over 12,000 people across the state on Friday. Earlier this week, hospitalizations were trending at 5% daily growth, but that rate has slowed. In the San Antonio region, including Kerr County, 1,000 people are hospitalized, with 44 children admitted.
While slowing, Texas hospitals admit about 2,000 people per day with COVID-19. In San Antonio, a 24-hour cycle saw more than 170 admissions.
The accuracy of the state's data has been a problematic element to navigate when it comes to providing a comprehensive assessment of the virus locally. The state's Kerr County data suggests 45 confirmed cases reported Saturday, with another 121 probable cases. The state counts antigen tests — the take-home or rapid result test — as probable results. A confirmed result is through the PCR test.
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