Photo by Roschetzky Photography
In Austin and Travis County 17 people have died as a result of COVID-19. Austin Public Health says the number of new cases has climbed sharply in the past 24 hours, now up to 977. As those numbers rise, so do the number of recoveries, which reached 178.
Despite a growing criticism of Austin and Travis County over mandating that people wear masks, the order will remain until May 8th and probably longer than that. Assistant Police Chief Robin Henderson tells CBS Austin, violations could lead to fines and jail time for you but only if you’re not homeless.
“They are trying to keep that social distance but they are exempt from the order,” says Henderson.
Police will stop you if you’re unmasked, educate you on the order and cite you if you’re caught more than once. Hundreds of people yesterday made complaints to 311 about others not covering their face.
It’s been more than a week since Williamson County reported its most recent COVID-19 death. As of today, that number still remains at 4. 28 Cases of the virus have been confirmed, but the number of recoveries is beginning to catch up. That is at 75 now. Hays County’s total is 109 and one death. In Bastrop County there’s one death and 38 cases. New data from Bastrop health officials now shows six recoveries there.
The Texas Workforce Commission continues to be flooded with calls. The TWC Cisco Gamez says just last week their call centers received 14 million calls. The peak was April 7th, with more than 3.4 million calls coming in.
“To put in perspective, on average, we received around 13,000 calls a day before COVID-19 and the record was 60,000 day. 3.4 million calls in a 24 hour period is a big jump,” says Gamez.
However, many of those calls were from the same people trying to get through to an official. This is another reason why the TWC is adding on more call center staff, hours and web servers.
Texas Medical Association is pushing back against hopes that the state will begin to reopen businesses soon. Governor Greg Abbott will lay out his plan tomorrow to get the private sector running again in Austin. But Dr. John Carlo says you should probably temper your expectations about how fast this will happen.
“If we do it too quickly we could be really in a bad predicament as the cases could rise very, very quickly,” says Carlo.
This decision should be medically based because he thinks it’s highly likely we’ll see a second spike in cases as people head back to work and into the public.
The Bee Cave City Council approves adding $2 million into a fund for small businesses impacted by COVID-19. Much like funds established in cities across Central Texas, the money will be made available for companies to keep the lights on and to continue to pay their employees
Austin School District students hoping to celebrate prom this year are out of luck. A.I.S.D says all proms are canceled and graduation ceremonies will be postponed. Online graduations are being planned for mid-June. There’s still a tentative plan to allow students to actually walk the stage at the Frank Erwin Center in August.
Coronavirus has led St. Edward’s University to cut six of its sports programs. Those include men’s and women’s tennis, men’s and women’s golf, men’s soccer and the cheerleading squad. All scholarship eligible students will have that scholarship honored to the remainder of their undergraduate studies. Those who would like to transfer will be granted immediate release.
The University of Texas is slashing tuition for summer classes. UT President Greg Fenves says the undergraduate summer session will cost half of what it typically would cost. In a letter, he writes that this is to help students remain on track to graduation. To tackle the financial difficulties the crisis has caused, Fenvez says staffers won’t be seeing raises for the time being. They will be reviewing all of their expenditures.
Capital Metro employees remain at high risk of contracting COVID-19. Officials say an eighth worker has now been confirmed to have it. Seven of those cases are bus drivers, including the new case, confirmed this week. The other is a mechanic who is among the deaths related to the virus. Cap Metro says the driver last worked on March 30th.
Central Health is offering a limited number of COVID-19 tests at three Austin community care clinics. From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. today, testing is available at the Del Valle Clinic. During that same time tomorrow, testing will be done at Barbara Jordan Elementary. Testing is also available from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday at the 41st Street Clinic. No appointment is necessary, but tests are limited.
This news and more on KLBJ AM:
https://omny.fm/shows/klbjam-flash-briefing-1/am-newscast-4-16-20
