COVID-19 update
While Travis County has seen a slight bump in COVID hospitalizations over the past day, the numbers are still smaller than it was heading into the Thanksgiving holiday. Right now, 218 of the county’s 2,551 active cases involve hospitalization. 38,377 total cases found, resulting in 35,343 recoveries.
Up in Williamson County, the total number of hospitalizations has fallen to 56. That’s down from 62 a day ago, More than 100 fewer cases are said to be active today than just 24 hours ago. In all, 701 cases are active out of the 13,301 confirmed. Of the overall total, 12,437 have recovered.
Austin Mayor Steve Adler is expecting COVID vaccines to arrive in the area soon, likely by mid month. He says a second vaccine is expected a week after the first one arrived.
“The rules about who gets it probably will be set by the federal government. The state will probably use whatever discretion is left over. I’m not sure how much discretion we have here locally,” Adler says.
The city is committed to following whatever protocols were laid out by federal and state leaders.
Extracurricular COVID risks
While on-campus learning has been halted for the week in the Austin school district. Kids can still participate in extracurricular activities. Parents like Derek White tell CBS Austin he’s taking his son out of sports for now and he thinks coronavirus testing should be required for all kids who are still involved.
“Whereas the NFL is testing their players on game days, you know we’re not testing our players before games,” he says.
The district says it’s taking all necessary precautions, but Austin Public Health continues to recommend against allowing students to participate in activities where distancing is not possible.
Food Insecurity during COVID
A new UT Dell medical study shows the COVID pandemic actually spiked the number of families experiencing what’s known as food insecurity. Doctor Megan Gray says about 70% of families back in July didn’t know if they’d run out of food before the next paycheck. That percentage has dropped to about 47%. Instead, she says, people really need to step up.
“In the short term, the Central Texas food bank is doing amazing work, so I would say giving to that organization would be probably the number one thing that you could do,” says Gray.
Dr. Gray says extended protections and SNAP benefits have definitely helped.
Early runoff election
Austin district in council member Alison Alter defends herself from challenger Jennifer Virden in a debate ahead of the early runoff election that begins on Thursday. The two faced questions about the ongoing homelessness crisis and sit-and-lie ordinance repeal. Alter says she’s just as frustrated by the repeal, but is working with what she’s got.
“What I have been doing because there is not a majority on council that will revisit the ban, is I’ve been focusing on making sure that we manage our public spaces, that we have sanitation improved. Been making sure that we have a comprehensive strategy,” Alter says.
Virden retorst the camping ban must be reinstated as a tool to combat the problem, adding we should also follow San Antonio’s Haven for Hope approach to homelessness.
Road rage incidents
Road rage is certainly nothing new in Austin, but police believe it has become a major problem. Detective Patrick Oborski tells FOX 7 it’s a tough issue because, on a base level, there is no law against road rage.
“Within road rage, you could have people basically driving aggressively or they could be committing crimes like aggravated assault or using deadly weapons or things like that,” says Oborski.
Police data shows 48 incidents involving road rage since January, some of which have resulted in injury or death. AAA Texas says across the state, road rage crashes have risen by at least 17% since 2018.
House Park Bar-B-Que fire
Longtime Austin restaurant House Park Bar-B-Que falls victim to an overnight fire. Officials say the building has suffered extensive fire and smoke damage, but there’s been no injuries reported. Cause of that fire is under investigation. House Park Bar-B-Que has been in operation here in Austin since 1943.
This news and more on News Radio KLBJ:
https://omny.fm/shows/klbjam-flash-briefing-1/am-newscast-12-1-20
