AUSTIN, Texas — Austin’s rate of hospitalization for nearly two weeks has been at a level warranting a drop to Stage 3 of Austin Public Health’s risk-based COVID-19 guidelines. On Tuesday morning, it became official.

What You Need To Know

  • Austin-Travis Co. on Tuesday was downgraded to Stage 3 of COVID-19 risk-based guidelines. It had been in Stage 4 since Sept. 28

  • The downgrade was triggered by a drop in the 7-day average of hospitalizations in the region among other factors 

  • Under current guidelines, it's recommended the fully vaccinated use precautions during some activities but those who are unvaccinated or only partially vaccinated take precautions during all outlined activities 

  • Austin Public Health said most of  the hospitalizations and deaths in the area involve the unvaccinated 

Austin’s medical director and health authority Dr. Desmar Walkes made the announcement.

The Austin area had been under Stage 4 guidelines since Sept. 28. There had been some speculation that health officials were waiting to see what – if any – effect the Austin City Limits Festival had on new cases of the virus and hospital admissions.

“Now is not the time to let our guard down. While our numbers are dramatically better than they were at the peak of this surge, we need to remain committed with the widespread, highly transmissible Delta variant,” Dr. Walkes said. “Flu season is just beginning, and it will not take much to trigger another surge of cases and overburden our hospital systems again. Get vaccinated, get tested, and stay home if you are sick.” 

What does the move mean for individuals and businesses? APH has established guidelines for the vaccinated and unvaccinated. It’s recommended that those who are fully vaccinated take precautions when participating in indoor private gatherings. They can participate in outdoor gatherings without precautions. High-risk people can dine out with precautions, and low-risk people may do so without precautions. APH says you can shop without precautions but you should still take precautions when traveling.

For the unvaccinated and partially vaccinated, it’s recommended you take precautions while participating in all of the aforementioned activities.

Austin Public Health further reported that most hospitalizations and deaths continue to involve the unvaccinated. They provided the following data points when announcing the region's move to Stage 3 guidelines on Tuesday: 

  • The positivity rate, weekly number of people who test positive out of the total number of people tested, has dropped 60 percent, from 14.8 to 5.9 percent from its peak in early August.  
  • The 7-day moving average for hospitalizations has decreased over 60 percent, peaking at 641.9 on Aug. 27 down to 254.9 on Oct. 11.  
  • COVID patients in local ICUs has decreased over 62 percent from 237 patients on Aug. 22 to 90 on Oct. 11.  

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