Photo by Roschetzky Photography
Governor Greg Abbott is hoping to get the ball rolling this week toward reopening Texas businesses. Today he’ll likely unveil a new plan to reopen the Texas economy and get the doors of shuttered businesses back open as soon as possible. How exactly he envisions that happening is still unclear, but he says he will be issuing an executive order on the matter. This comes as Austin Mayor Steve Adler remains very hesitant about moving too quickly to get the private sector back on its feet. He says public health must continue to be the top priority.
On a typical day, about 13,000 calls come into the Texas Workforce Commission. Cisco Gamez says the commission call centers have seen as many as three million in a single day since the COVID-19 outbreak began, but this shouldn’t affect the start date of your unemployment benefits.
“We’re looking at the date that you stop working, the day your hours were reduced, the day you might have been laid off, rather than the day that you are applying or get through,” says Gamez.
Call centers will now be open all seven days of the week. The previous record for calls prior to the crisis was 60,000 in one day.
The state disaster declaration has been extended by Governor Greg Abbott. His first declaration was good for 30 days. By extending this, the state will continue getting the adequate resources needed to support and protect public health.
There’s been a jump of more than 100 new cases of COVID-19 in Travis County since Friday morning. Austin Public Health is reporting 774 cases this morning and a total of nine deaths. 140 of those cases have recovered. Between the ages of 20-39, there were 335 cases. That still accounts for the most of any age group. No new deaths have been reported in Williamson County, but the number of cases has climbed to 117. 61 of those have recovered. There are 89 cases in Hays County, zero deaths and 24 recoveries. Bastrop County added a handful of new cases over the weekend with the total now to 27 with one death.
Concerning the COVID-19 crisis, a lot of unanswered questions could leave Austin’s rental market lagging. Looking at the rental market apartment list, economist Chris Salviati says the shelter-at-home orders and growing unemployment could have the markets freeze rather than dip.
“Even after those guidelines are lifted, I think the continued uncertainty around the pandemic and the related economic uncertainty is probably still gonna have people delaying some of that moving activity.”
Salviati says that low leases typically mean a drop in rent, but believes the current situation will have landlord’s waiting to make a rent price decision later on.
Capital Metro continues to operate, but it’s ridership numbers have steadily dropped in the past several weeks. Cap Metro says the number of passengers is down more than 66%. Physical barriers have been installed between drivers and passengers, and drivers have been given facemasks. Four drivers have tested positive for COVID-19 and a mechanic recently died from the disease.
Coronavirus has led to a sight not seen in decades for Austin: congestion free roads. It’s the same for big cities across the state. According to new numbers from TxDot, vehicle use is down 41% since social distancing efforts kicked in. According to the Austin American-Statesman, the 11 counties surrounding Austin have seen a drop of 50%.
If the uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic is really getting to you, the Texas Psychological Association has begun offering a free service to people who may need counseling. Dr. Ron Palomares-Fernandez tells KVUE it’s a telehealth service using a licensed psychologist. Along with that option, there’s also a mental health support line that’s manned 24 hours a day by the Texas Health and Human Services Department.
https://omny.fm/shows/klbjam-flash-briefing-1/am-newscast-4-13-20
