TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas — Austin Mayor Steve Adler earlier in the week said Stage 5 COVID-19 guidelines could be triggered when the Austin-Travis County area exceeds a seven-day moving average of 50 hospitalizations per day.
As of Friday, that has been reached. A total of 68 people were admitted to area hospitals for the virus on Thursday.
Still, as of Friday morning, there is no official word from Austin Public Health about a transition from Stage 4 to Stage 5.
If the region is placed in Stage 5, which includes the most stringent public health guidelines on the color-coded chart, what Austin Public Health interim health authority Dr. Mark Escott referred to as a “focused curfew” could be implemented.
"What we’re doing now is not working and the concern is to limit the risk. We are seeing disease spread worsen. Right now, we are concerned about social gatherings in the evening. In particular, we are concerned about bars that are operating as restaurants, but still functioning as bars due to a loophole in the current guidance," Escott said. "Looking at starting curfew around 10-10:30 p.m. I don’t anticipate the consideration of a widespread curfew affecting every biz at this stage, but there is the possibility of that happening if we start to see a catastrophic surge like in El Paso. For now, it would be a focused curfew."
In addition, under Stage 5 guidelines, it is suggested that only essential businesses remain open and that everyone avoids non-essential travel and gatherings involving people outside of those in a person’s immediate household. Those recommendations are in addition to social distancing measures such as avoiding the sick, wearing a facial covering, and maintaining distance from others.
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On December 15, the region’s “Stay Home, Work Safe” – now called “Stay Home, Mask and Otherwise Be Safe” – orders were extended to February 16, 2021.