Blanco County COVID-19 cases are mirroring trends seen recently across the state and nationally, including an increase in coronavirus cases among a younger demographic.

“For confirmed cases from March through May, the average age was 61.5,” said Ben Oakley, Blanco County infectious disease control officer. Oakley is the EMS Chief for Blanco County ESD 2. “For June so far, our confirmed case average age is 29.3, a substantial change in demographics.”

As of June 22, Blanco County Emergency Management is reporting 27 total confirmed cases and 36 probable cases that are under investigation. Nineteen cases are active, seven people have recovered and one man in his 60s died last month. Probable cases include people who are actively displaying symptoms but who are awaiting lab results.

Oakley said that cases are relatively evenly spread throughout the entire county.

Blanco County cases are surging, which Oakley largely attributes to social gatherings around Memorial Day.

“While Blanco County is fortunate that we don’t face many of the challenges seen in major metropolitan areas, the current spike in cases shows that we’re not immune to COVID-19 and our community must continue working together to stop the spread.”

The demand for tests also is apparent.

“We saw a huge increase in demand for testing this week, of more than 600 percent,” Oakley said.

So far, the county has completed 134 tests, with just over 12 percent coming back positive.

Contact tracing, which involves several agencies, begins when a positive result is returned.

“Blanco County provides the Department of State Health Services with all of the case information necessary to initiate contact tracing, and then DSHS Public Health Region 7 enters this information into a platform called Texas Health Trace, where contact tracers begin their work,” Oakley said.

However, the process is a bit bogged down.

“Unfortunately, due to the overwhelming amount of cases being handled by the state, this process is not nearly quick or efficient enough to provide much benefit,” he said. “We’ve found that most COVID-19 positive patients have initiated their own contact tracing investigations, and have quickly notified all of their contacts in a matter of hours, rather than days or weeks.”

Statewide, DSHS is reporting more than 111,600 cases, with 2,182 fatalities, 40,920 active cases and almost 68,500 recoveries as of June 22.

Although no drive-through testing events are scheduled, EMS providers are performing tests.

Anyone in Blanco County can request testing by going to BlancoCOVIDTest.org.