COVID-19 update
Travis County’s current positivity rate for COVID-19 cases is now at its lowest point we’ve seen since the pandemic began, Mayor Steve Adler says it’s been falling steadily over the past four weeks.
“Went from 6.3% to 5.4%, to 4.3% to 3.8%, which is where it’s at right now,” says Adler.
Because the rate is so low, Adler is raising some big alarms over the governor hinting that bars may open again soon/ He says it’s still too soon to reopen bars the focus should be on safely reopening schools. The Texas Bar Nightclub Alliance says the bar industry cannot survive the shutdowns for much longer.
The pendulum has swung back in the opposite direction again for Travis County as coronavirus hospitalizations have climbed back up to 85 this morning. It’s not a huge jump, but it is an increase of seven from yesterday. 671 cases are active across the entire county and over the past seven months, 29,952 cases have been found and 28,847 of those are recoveries.
Since the pandemic began in March, Williamson County has confirmed a total of 8,861 cases. As of this morning, 204 of those were still active. 10 involved someone who’s been hospitalized. Just under 30 more recoveries have been reported over the past day, taking that number up to 8,514.
COVID cluster
Austin Public Health is investigating a cluster of COVID cases related to a group of high schoolers who attended a weekend party. Travis County Health Authority Mark Escott says a lot of the new cases we’re seeing are still coming from teens and young adults.
“Six individuals from that party have tested as COVID-19 positive and another 58 are quarantined as close contacts,” says Escott.
He hasn’t said in which school this actually happened. Escott says the cases still don’t appear to be spreading in classrooms, but the risk is still higher for extracurricular activities.
Pflugerville schools cleanliness
There’s some concern in the Pflugerville school district over the cleanliness of campuses. Dan Dawer, now a former teacher of Louisville High School, tells KVUE he resigned on the first day of school.
“Serious concerns about the district’s enforcement of safety protocols and disinfecting procedures. Teachers received wipe buckets that developed mold,” Dawer says.
The district replaced the buckets, but he says the mold was found for a second time. The district says it has not gotten any official reports of more mold. 19 cases of COVID have been confirmed by the district.
Election day drop off site lawsuit
Election Day is about 3.5 weeks away, and Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir is still very upset about the governor limiting counties to only one drop off site for ballots.
“Obviously, it was not good news for voters to have their plan disrupted at the last minute,” DeBeauvoir tells CBS Austin.
About 1,500 ballots have already been hand delivered to the drop-off site on Airport Boulevard. 74,000 mail-in ballots have been requested. That’s about three times the amount requested for the 2016 election.
Three lawsuits have now been filed against the governor following the order to limit counties to the single drop off site. Cheryl Drazin with the Texas wing of the Anti-Defamation League says it’s blatant voter voter suppression.
“The state of Texas, we feel, needs to work to ensure safe and accessible voting and this order does the opposite,” says Drazin.
Late last week, the League of United Latin American Citizens and the Texas League of Women Voters also filed suit over the order, claiming it creates an unnecessary burden on voters.
Walker Texas Ranger reboot
Austin’s film industry has been struggling during the pandemic. The city council may offer a lifeline next week. The council has set to rule on a $141,000 incentive deal with Eye Productions Inc. As the company looks to start rolling on a reboot of Walker Texas Ranger in and around the city. The Texas Motion Picture Alliance’s Mindy Raymond says if all goes well, it will get a lot of people back to work.
“The additional number in wages that would be coming back to Central Texas is over $17 million in wages. So that is jobs that are literally being created here for this production to come in,” says Raymond.
If approved, filming would start later this month and wrap in April.
COVID/flu mitigation
Bastrop County Judge Paul Pape is still dealing with some lingering effects of coronavirus which he may have contracted as far back as February. He tells FOX-7 his illness has had a bit of a silver lining because it’s also made the county much more aware of flu mitigation.
“The fact that we’ve been wearing masks and washing our hands more effectively had a positive impact on just normal seasonal flu, and the anecdotal evidence is that, yes, it has,” Pape says.
Just over 1,800 people in Bastrop County have contracted coronavirus since March.
This news and more on News Radio KLBJ:
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