COVID-19 update
No more patients are being treated for COVID-19 at the Austin Convention Center, which was opened up months ago to serve as a spillover sight as hospital space grew smaller following the holidays. Austin Public Health is reporting 150 people in the hospital today. That’s 27 fewer than Friday morning as we were heading into the weekend and 1,120 cases are said to be active right now, out of 78,193 confirmed and there have been more than 76,200 recoverie.
The Toney Burger Center transforms into Travis County’s latest mass vaccination side over the weekend, with about 1,500 people getting a dose. Austin Public Health Director Stephanie Hayden says the goal ultimately is to get sites like this up and running all over the city.
“Our hope is to start to transition and be more in neighborhoods very close where individuals could even walk to our site,” says Hayden.
And she says the plan for the Burger Center to start pumping out 3,000 doses per day there once the supply line finally increases.”
With spring break now over for many students, local health officials are hoping people will quarantine themselves until getting a negative covid test result. Travis County Health Authority Mark Escott says he’s worried about the number of younger adults who frequented bars over the past week without masks.
“Primarily, we’re talking about people in their twenties, thirties and forties, which are the same groups of people who are less likely to be vaccinated right now,” says Escott.
And Wednesday will be exactly two weeks since the governor lifted the statewide mask order.
Large events in Austin
The city of Austin is pushing new rules and recommendations to resume large events, the city’s Sarah Henry says for indoor spaces, they’re recommending covid prevention practices currently in use by businesses already open for outdoor events. They’re adding onto the permit process.
“Now there will be an additional permit requirement for them to submit a COVID-19 health and safety plan, and they submit that plan by filling out this COVID-19 health and safety forms, and it goes right along with their event application,” says Henry.
Henry says. by their recounts, Austin’s events industry lost an estimated $1 billion. She says these new guidelines should be a signal of cautious optimism about the city’s future.
Running returns to Austin
Competitive Running will return to Austin next month. The Austin Marathon says the city of Austin has approved the half marathon and 5K race to resume this year. Approval is part of the city’s new special permitting process. The half marathon will be capped off at 6,500 runners. The 5k will have no more than 500.
Round Rock high school graduations
The Round Rock School board will be presented on Thursday with a student led proposal that would allow for a traditional graduation ceremony, with certain precautions still in place. West one high school senior Alayna Pelayo tells KVUE the class of 2021 has been stripped of so much like prom and homecoming and now graduation.
“It’s really going to be about presenting a feasible solution. So it’s not just us complaining. But it’s really giving a solution that could work andis safe. And almost 1,500 people have signed a petition supporting that proposal,” says Pelayo.
APD detective battling severe COVID
Austin Police Detective Elijah Neely is battling a severe case of COVID-19, and now the department’s rallying to try to help one of its own. Austin Police Association President Ken Casaday says there have been hundreds of officers who have gotten COVID, but none is bad.
“He’s given over 10 years of his life to this department into the city and you know, if there’s a time to come together when everyone is thinking about COVID now is it because we have an officer that needs assistance,” says Casaday.
A GoFundMe account has been started for nearly by the Texas Peace Officer Association. So far, more than $28,000 has been raised.
We should know by today who will be taking over in the interim for outgoing Austin Police Chief Brian Manley. The city manager will make the announcement. Manley was named chief shortly after the 2018 bombings but has served at APD for 30 years. And the City Council will cast a confirmation vote for the new interim chief on Thursday.
CrowdStreets in Austin
And another company is packing up its operations on the West Coast and moving out here to Texas. Portland based real estate firm CrowdStreets says Austin will become the new home of its headquarters with office space downtown and at the domain under consideration. 100 employees are expected to make the move and about 80 more should be added locally.
This news and more on News Radio KLBJ:
https://omny.fm/shows/klbjam-flash-briefing-1/am-newscast-3-22-21
