COVID-19 update
Hospitalizations are indeed going up in Travis County, but the number is not necessarily skyrocketing at the pace that many people may think. While the 219 hospitalizations today are certainly high, it’s only nine more than one day ago and still hundreds less than the summertime high point. The number of active cases are climbing much faster than hospitalizations, indicating that the vast majority of people very likely will not need inpatient care. In all, 36,754 cases are confirmed and are 33,661 recoveries.
COVID numbers have gone up across the board in Williamson County and 63 require hospitalization. That is up slightly from one day ago. Similar to Travis County, Williamson County’s active cases have climbed at a far faster pace than hospitalizations. 565 cases are considered active at the moment. 11,935 cases are known and discovered since March have resulted in 11,208 recoveries.
Adler spoke with Biden/Harris
Austin Mayor Steve Adler was part of a large panel this week getting to speak with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Adler said Biden made some promises about working with cities.
“He promised relief coming directly to cities, which is important. We talked with him and the vice president elect about the potential tsunami of evictions that happens when eviction controls go away,” says Adler
He also says they let Biden know that there’s a desperate need for financial support for local businesses.
Some of Joe Biden’s claims are already being ruled as falsehoods, including a statement recently made which Biden said more than 660,000 teachers have lost their jobs because of the pandemic. According to PolitiFact, that’s not necessarily true because Biden was including public sector educational jobs in that claim, many of whom are not teachers and many of whom are also not laid off.
COVID vaccine
There’s a lot of speculation among state leaders that the COVID vaccine is just weeks away from arriving in Texas. As has been widely reported recently, Chris Van Deusen, with the Department of State Health Services, says healthcare workers would get it first. But he says those workers actually treating COVID patients will be the very top priority.
“Those who are around people who are likely to have COVID-19 or those who treat and care for other vulnerable populations; who would be in a great deal of danger for severe disease if they were to get it,” Deusen says.
Only after healthcare workers and first responders are vaccinated will the elderly and other high risk patients actually be prioritized.
Rapid testing still bring risk
Warnings about rapid COVID testing have really ramped up in recent days as more and more doctors are trying to dissuade you from spending Thanksgiving with a whole bunch of your family members. UT Health Chief Medical Officer Robert Leverence says getting tested is certainly better than not getting tested but he says a negative result still won’t guarantee a clean bill of health.
“That shows whether or not you have the virus at the time the test was taken. It doesn’t guarantee you won’t have the virus.”
He says it could take up to two weeks for symptoms to present themselves.
South Congress financial crisis
Many South Congress businesses are facing a real financial crisis because of COVID-19. President of South Congress Merchant Association Brandon Hodge tells KVUE there are more than 100 businesses in the area, and most have extremely high rent payments every month.
“There’s a reason for that. Many of us are not paying for online merchandise for online sales, we’re paying for the foot traffic that the popularity of that shopping district brings,” says Hodge.
With a severe drop in shoppers expected for the Christmas season, he says it could be devastating, even using the word “bloodbath” to describe the number of businesses that may be lost around South Congress and around Austin in general.
New P. Terry’s location
As a lot of businesses are closing their doors, at least one big name in Austin is actually expanding. P Terry’s is expected to open up a brand new location in Pflugerville by January. The company says that the new location will be near the Costco off FM 685.
Cornyn admits Trump’s loss
Texas Senator John Cornyn is among a growing number of Republicans who believe no measure of legal wrangling will result in a second term for President Trump. Cornyn says the chances of a second term are decreasing rapidly by the day.
“So I fully expect, unless there’s some surprise that none of us know anything about right now, that Joe Biden will be the next president,” says Cornyn.
Although he does say he thinks it would be wise to make sure that most supporters of the president feel that the results were actually fair and valid.
This news and more on News Radio KLBJ:
https://omny.fm/shows/klbjam-flash-briefing-1/am-newscast-11-24-20
