Kerr County COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to decline, but sees four additional fatalities

As more Kerr County residents continue to get vaccinated for COVID-19, the county continues to see a decline in coronavirus hospitalizations.

As of Monday, October 4, there were 11 inpatients receiving treatment at Peterson Regional Medical Center for COVID-19. Of those patients, 5 were in ICU, 2 individuals were on ventilators, 1 person was on Vapotherm treatment and 1 person was on an oxygen nasal cannula.

There are currently 845 COVID-19 hospitalizations of patients across the 28-county region that includes Kerr County, which represents 9.3% of the capacity of hospital facilities across the region, down from the 12.1% reported Friday.

According to Kerr County Emergency Management Coordinator Dub Thomas, “47,086 vaccine doses have now been received by county residents – whether they got their shots through local providers or somewhere outside the county. That’s a significant jump in our people getting vaccines – 1,377 more people in a week’s time, to be exact. With that latest push, we now have nearly half – (22,692 locals) 49.23% – of our county population vaccinated.”

Thomas confirmed that as of Monday, October 4, there were 241 active novel coronavirus cases, 5,901 recoveries and 119 confirmed fatalities of permanent Kerr County residents. Four additional county residents have died from the virus since a week ago.

Thomas said he was encouraged with the most recent COVID-19 statistics “because it looks like things are finally going our way. We’re seeing the latest surge, which hit us pretty strong and has lasted a good while, start to fade away.”

Gillespie County reported that as of Monday, October 4: 89 active COVID-19 cases, 4 HCM hospitalizations, 3,243 recoveries and 74 confirmed coronavirus fatalities. The county’s vaccination rate stands at 56.10% for all eligible residents age 12 and older.

The number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in Texas has dropped by 3,776 in the past two weeks, with Texas Department of State Health Services reporting 7,934 hospitalizations on Monday. TX DSHS confirms 238,377 active COVID-19 cases and 64,785 deaths as of October 4, 2021. There are 51.28% fully vaccinated Texans, and 59.50% of all eligible Texans have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Johnson & Johnson said Tuesday it has asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to authorize booster shots for its coronavirus vaccine, but has left it up to the FDA and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to decide who should get their boosters and when.

The FDA’s Vaccine and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee is scheduled to meet October 14 and 15 to consider requests from Moderna and Johnson & Johnson to add booster doses for their COVID-19 vaccines. Pfizer received the FDA’s OK last month for booster shots for certain people who got the original two doses six months ago or longer.