COVID-19 update
As concern grows over available hospital beds in Travis County, the number of people hospitalized for COVID-19 has grown by 18 over the past day. That number is now up to 422 this morning. Currently, there are 4,469 active cases, out of an overall total of 48,951 and 43,940 of those cases have resulted in recoveries.
In Williamson County, 111 people are in the hospital this morning for coronavirus right now. 820 of the 19,519 confirmed cases are active and 18,501 people have recovered.
State of Emergency 2021
Local health officials say Austin Travis County may start the new year in a state of emergency. Mayor Steve Adler says should the COVID pandemic continue to worsen, it may impact more than just private businesses
“It could impact whether or at what degree AISD schools are open after the first of the year. Whether that should be virtual just for high school and middle school, treating them differently than elementary school, everything is kind of in play at this point,” Adler says.
Health officials are speaking with the county judge and his office about what needs to happen next.
New Years Eve restaurants
So what would normally be one of the biggest celebrations of the year in Austin is now just a couple of days away, but city leaders want no part of it. County Health Authority Mark Escott says restaurants or bars operating as restaurants have no business serving customers on New Year’s Eve.
“We need them to close. We need them to understand that they are putting public health at risk by being open,” Escott says.
Austin Public Health is leaning on police and Austin code to enforce social distancing and mask wearing. Escott says at this point, we really can’t enforce ourselves out of a surge. So a curfew may be imposed by the end of this week.
APD to stop responding to calls
As health officials look to police to enforce COVID regulations, the Austin police association is thinking it might be best if officers hold off on responding to certain calls, at least for a few weeks. Association President Ken Casaday tells KVUE cases are surging at APD. They don’t have enough protective equipment for all the interactions they have every day with the public,
“We go into people’s homes, we make traffic stops, we’re face to face with individuals, we’re dealing with the homeless community every day,” Casaday says.
At least temporarily, officers might start avoiding calls like noise complaints or minor crashes. He is asking the Chief primarily to get them more N95 masks.
Williamson County vaccines
Front line workers in Williamson County continue to get their COVID vaccines. Officials say about 500 have already gotten their first round of shots among 18 fire stations and eight long term care centers. School nurses from 11 different county districts are also among those to receive the vaccine.
The pandemic economy
The pandemic has taken a major toll on people’s lives and Central Texas economist Dr. Ray Perryman says aside from the humanitarian reasons, are economic reasons to address people’s needs.
“Just the new poverty that’s come about as a result of the pandemic and the real coming recession. Just that extra amount in the country, the way we were during this year, is going to cost us about $436 billion in gross products over the years,” Perryman says.
In Texas alone, families now living in poverty will cost about $50 billion in economic output.
Unemployment benefits taxes
Texans that have been getting unemployment benefits this year because of COVID could be in for a rude surprise. And that’s because those funds are subject to federal taxes, which are not automatically deducted. James Bernsen, with the Texas Workforce Commission, says it is income.
“On the actual portal. There’s information on our website, and there’s also emails directly to them,” says Bernsen.
A recent survey found 38% of people didn’t know their unemployment checks were taxable. Nearly two thirds didn’t set aside any income to pay their taxes when they come due in April.
Austin woman shot in road rage incident
An Austin woman is in the hospital with a life threatening gunshot wound following a suspected road rage incident the day after Christmas, Austin police say it happened right around Todd Lane and South Pleasant Valley at about 7 p.m. on Saturday. They’re asking anyone to come forward with information about what might have happened.
Homeless strategy officer
Austin now has a new homeless strategy officer. Her name is Dianna Gray, and she’s the first person to fill that role since Lori Pampilo Harris was hired with a six figure salary last year only to quit that position a month later. Gray will officially take over that role on January 4.
This news and more on News Radio KLBJ:
https://omny.fm/shows/klbjam-flash-briefing-1/am-newscast-12-29-20
