Austin Police Department sees a shortage of staff
The Austin Police Department’s officer shortage currently stands at 170. The Austin Police Association says as protests continue and rioters continue to cause damage, the shortage is taking its toll. Union President Ken Casaday told FOX 7 they’re working 12 to 14 hour shifts.
“It’s extremely taxing on the officers because they’re working on their normal days, but they’re also working on their off days. So we’re going to go a period of time, probably 7-8 days, where officers don’t get any time off,” says Ken Casaday.
Officers are being paired up so they’re not by themselves.
People exploiting the protests are being pursued
The Texas Department of Public Safety is calling out rioters and agitators who have been exploiting the protest. DPS director Steve McCraw singled out one of those groups that was responsible for looting and damage in Austin over the weekend.
“That was done and organized by an antifa webpage,” says McCraw.
Antifa members are violent left wing extremists who have hijacked the protest. They’ve identified many of them involved in the Capitol Plaza Target looting over the weekend and arrests will be made.
Governor Greg Abbott says the U.S. military is not needed in Texas
President Donald Trump has said he is open to using the U.S. military to crack down on violence. Governor Greg Abbott says that will not be necessary in Texas.
“We will not be asking the United States military to come into the state of Texas because we know that Texans can take care of Texas,” says Abbott.
He fully supports the protest but he won’t tolerate violence. The DPS has sent more than 3,000 troops to patrol the state. Abbott says the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis was a horrific act of police brutality.
Austin sees a spike in COVID-19 weeks after opening the private sector
Area health officials say they’re seeing a spike of more COVID-19 infections. Austin Area Health Authority Dr. Mark Escott says this growth of infection started when Governor Greg Abbott started easing and opened the private business sector. The area was seeing 45 cases a day on average beforehand, but now it’s passing 60.
“As the community started to open up, we’re seeing new cases which have trailed that policy change by about 2.5 weeks. At this stage, we’re still in a good situation. We still have plenty of hospital capacity,” Dr. Escott says.
Health experts warned this would happen if businesses were allowed to reopen.
COVID-19 updates
For more than a day the number of hospitalizations in Travis County has remained at 97. Austin Public Health reports an overall total of 3,433 cases, 93 of which have resulted in death. The recovery numbers are continuing to climb now up to 1,296 this morning, which is 79 more than a day ago.
Williamson County has crossed another threshold for its coronavirus recoveries. The number of patients who have now battled back from their illness is at 412. The number of active cases is now at 199 dropping below the 200 mark for the first time in weeks. 10 people are in the hospital and 53% of Williamson County’s hospital bed space is available.
Antiviral medications may work against coronavirus
New research from the University of Texas finds antiviral medications that have proven effective in preventing flu deaths may also be effective against COVID-19. The study says mass production of antivirals could happen far quicker than a full vaccine. One specific drug, baloxavir, is said to significantly reduce the time a person would be contagious with most viruses.
Scientists and politicians disagree on the practice of contact tracing
Some state lawmakers are calling on Governor Abbott to end the practice of contact tracing, “but if the extreme far right has its way, we’re gonna be in big trouble,” says Dr. Peter Hotez of the Baylor College of Medicine.
He says tracking the contact of those testing positive is one of the few tools they have to stop the spread of the virus.
“Without a vaccine, the only things we have are our testing and contact tracing and what I call syndromic surveillance. If they’re going to block all of those things, I can guarantee you COVID-19 is gonna come roaring back,” Hotez says.
The Texas House Freedom Caucus said the privacy concerns were enough reason for the governor to avoid the current contract.
This news and more on News Radio KLBJ:
https://omny.fm/shows/klbjam-flash-briefing-1/am-newscast-6-3-20
