Austin health officials, wary of a growing surge in coronavirus cases ahead of Christmas and New Year’s Day, are now calling for the community to comply with the tightest pandemic restrictions so far this year.
Travis County on Wednesday officially moved to Stage 5 of Austin Public Health s risk-based guidelines, which include calls to scale back customer capacity at businesses and for little or no travel. The move comes as data show a steady increase in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations.
Stage 5 guidelines recommend that restaurants close all indoor dining and keep outdoor dining to 50% capacity. Businesses and restaurants are also urged to switch to delivery and takeout only.
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December 23, 2020, 9:03 PM·43 min read
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Opelika: At East Alabama Medical Center, located about 60 miles northeast of Montgomery, nurses and doctors who have spent months caring for the ill, are doing what they can to get through the holiday season, which many fear will only spread the disease and add to the U.S. death toll that has surpassed 300,000. That means staff members can hang decorations on patients’ doors in the ICU but cannot attend after-work Christmas parties. A cheerful Santa doll stands atop the desk at a nursing station, but big gatherings with relatives are out. A nurse for five years, Nurse Carla Fallin said Christmas just doesn’t feel right this year. She and her husband did not take their two young sons to local Christmas events that drew hundreds of people, many without masks. The decorations in the ICU help lighten the mental load a lit
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AUSTIN, Texas Health officials in the Texas state capital on Wednesday again urged people to avoid holiday gatherings to slow the spread of the coronavirus, as hospitalizations of COVID-19 patients soared heading into the Christmas weekend.
There is such a high rate of transmission in Austin that people should consider themselves at risk anywhere they go in the city, Dr. Mark Escott, the interim Austin-Travis County Health Authority, said during a news conference. Most often, people are passing the coronavirus to family and friends who they feel comfortable around without wearing a mask.
There has been a 97% increase in positive COVID-19 cases and an 80% increase in the seven-day average number of people hospitalized with the coronavirus in Austin since Dec 1, Escott said.
KUT
Signs in the hallway of the Liberal Arts and Science Academy tell people to wear masks and wash their hands.
Austin and Travis County have moved into stage 5 restrictions to prevent the spread of COVID-19, officials announced at a news conference Wednesday. At this level, residents are urged to stay home and businesses are asked to limit capacity and operate only through curbside and delivery if possible.
Austin Public Health s interim Health Authority Dr. Mark Escott said the community had reached another critical moment : Since Dec. 1, there has been a 97% increase in new cases diagnosed in Travis County and an 80% increase in the moving average of daily hospital admissions. He said he was concerned about hospital staffing and resources should Austin see the type of surge going on in other parts of the state.
People should take the rising number of COVID-19 cases into consideration as they weigh their holiday plans this week, the interim health authority for Austin-Travis County said.
“Our best advice is stay home and don’t travel,” Dr. Mark Escott told reporters during a news conference Monday.
Escott said the city is facing an “unprecedented” surge in COVID-19 cases. So far, cases have increased 86% since the beginning of the month.
“This week COVID-19 will become the third leading cause of death in Travis County for 2020,” he said.
Coronavirus in Austin, Texas: Health leaders give update before Christmas | KVUE
Janet Pichette, Austin Public Health’s chief epidemiologist, said the current surge in cases is largely linked to Thanksgiving gatherings. She said that should serve as a warning to everyone making plans this week.