Possible curfew to come
The Travis County Health Authority is not ruling out a curfew. While other Texas cities have enacted new curfews because of the COVID pandemic, Dr. Mark Escott says the curfew is not necessary here locally,
“I think right now people are listening, and we’ve been very fortunate throughout this pandemic that our community has responded every time that call to action,” says Escott.
However, Dr. Escott added if the local pandemic does get worse and the area enters stage five on the risk chart and curfews just might be on the table.
Bar/Restaurants not complying with ordinances
Austin Public Health is looking to crack down on bars that have converted into restaurants, and officials say they’re willing to order them to close down if they’re caught multiple times not complying with city ordinances. Health Authority Mark Escott says a lot of warnings were given over the past weekend and compliance was about 60%.
Austin schools deny work from home requests
The Austin School District has denied almost 950 work from home requests from teachers for the upcoming semester, despite repeated data from doctors showing COVID is not spreading in the classrooms. Ken Zarifis with Education Austin tells CBS Austin he thinks this will end with tragic results.
“I’ve never lost for words. The district is sending people into a death trap,” says Zarifis.
The district says criteria has continued to evolve since the pandemic first began and fully expects more students to return to campus for the spring. Only the 48 work from home requests have been approved so far.
COVID-19 update
In Travis County, there are 2,666 cases of coronavirus said to be active right now, 234 of which involved hospitalization. 38,757 cases have been found since way back in March, and 35,607 of those have resulted in a recovery.
Up in Williamson County, there have been multiple days of declines in terms of hospitalizations. Today, there are only 50 in the hospital. That’s a drop of a full dozen over the past 48 hours. There’s 776 active cases out of 13,515 confirmed overall and 12,575 recoveries.
White House calls out Texas
The White House COVID task force is calling on Texas to step up its efforts and stop the spread of the virus. President Trump’s COVID task force reports that Texas continues to be in full resurgence and mitigation efforts must intensify. Local nonprofit consumer advocacy group TexPIRG agrees and is calling for Governor Abbott to order another lock down.
“We need a temporary stay at home order and make sure that people are not contacting anyone outside of their household. That’s how we can get cases down quickly,” says TexPIRG’s health campaign director, Matt Wellington.
The President’s Task force report also calls the rising number of hospitalizations in Texas unsustainable.
Live music venue aid
The Austin City Council is set to give the go ahead tomorrow for a trio of new programs. Veronica Briseño with the Economic Development Department says the program is supposed to help keep afloat certain businesses, like struggling live music venues.
“We’re looking at immediate aid to individuals that are qualified for grants up to $20,000,” says Briseño.
As part of the proposed Live Music Preservation Fund rules, venues have to undergo a financial evaluation and be nearing closure within the next two months. They also have to undergo a technical assistance program and complete an equity strategic plan. If they jump over all those hurdles, she says venues could get up to $140,000 in enhanced funding.
Community court
Plans to move the downtown community court into East Austin have been scrapped. The plan was to lease a 30,000 square feet of office space there. However council member Pio Renteria, who does fully support homeless camping, argues that moving the court there would increase the number of homeless people hanging around in his district.
“We have a municipal court house that’s empty right now that could be rehab and and they’re already courtrooms in there,” says Renteria.
The city’s real estate office says the entire plan has now been abandoned permanently.
I-35 traffic beats records
A new study from the Texas A&M Transportation Institute has confirmed what most of us around here have assumed for years. I-35 through Austin, is the most congested roadway in the entire state of Texas. Specifically between Ben White and 290, the Interstate has now overtaken Loop 610 in Houston for that top spot.
This news and more on News Radio KLBJ:
https://omny.fm/shows/klbjam-flash-briefing-1/am-newscast-12-2-20
