Kerrville COVID-19 hospitalizations decrease, but fatalities continues to climb

Kerr County Emergency Management Coordinator Dub Thomas shared some optimistic news on Monday as he confirmed that the number of local COVID-19 hospitalizations has decreased since last week. As of September 27, there were 16 patients receiving treatment for COVID-19 in Peterson Regional Medical Center, a drop of 6 cases from the 22 inpatients reported by PRMC on Friday, September 24.

PRMC reported that of those 16 patients, 7 people were being treated in the ICU, 2 are being treated with Vapotherm, 2 are on BiPap and 1 is on high flow oxygen. Of the 16 inpatients, 2 were reportedly vaccinated.

Across the 28-county region to which Kerr County belongs, hospitalizations dropped across the board from 911 to 803. Currently, COVID-19 patients consume 12.1% capacity of hospitals regionwide, which is down from the 13.4% reported Friday.

Texas Department of State Health Services reported an increase in Kerr County’s pandemic death toll to 115, an increase of two fatalities since September 24. As of Monday, Sept. 27, Kerr County can confirm 266 active COVID-19 cases, 5,691 recoveries, 115 fatalities and 16 hospitalizations.

Thomas said that nearly half of the county’s population is fully vaccinated for the novel coronavirus (48.58%). As for the topic of ‘herd immunity,’ Thomas estimates that roughly 60-80% of the community would need to be vaccinated or immune through previous exposure to reach that goal.

In neighboring Gillespie County, as of Monday, officials confirm 100 active COVID-19 cases, 3,193 recoveries and 72 known fatalities. There are 13,008 of 26,988 county residents who are fully vaccinated against the virus.