AUSTIN, Texas — Austin and Travis County Health officials announced Thursday that they are elevating coronavirus precautions to Stage 4 guidelines.

That means residents are urged to avoid gatherings of more than 10 healthy people, and keep gatherings down to two people for those with health conditions. Travel outside the home should be limited to essential trips. Health officials are also asking businesses to reduce occupancy to 25 to 50 percent.

The goal is to avoid overwhelming health care workers and to save lives.

At a public briefing on Thursday, Dr. Mark Escott, Austin Public Health interim health authority, said the positivity rate in Travis County is now close to 7 percent. There are 161 positive cases per 100,000 people.

Escott says the disease is not spreading effectively when people are wearing masks and staying six feet apart. Escott also says he is not seeing random people infect one another; he’s seeing people infect those that they know. He says there is also a high risk of spread at social gatherings, such as sports events.

Austin Mayor Steve Adler says there are no plans yet to close city parks, but that’s being closely watched.

Escott says the Thanksgiving holiday poses significant risks. But he says Travis County residents can flatten the curve again if they act now, as they have in the past. He says if residents don’t act now, the county could go into stricter Stage 5 guidelines in the next few weeks.