As coronavirus cases continue to climb in the U.S. and Central Texas, Austin-Travis County health officials are urging residents to get a flu shot and limit Thanksgiving celebrations to help prevent a surge of COVID-19 cases after the holiday.
On Monday, 318 more people in Travis County tested positive for COVID-19, the disease linked to the coronavirus, bringing the county’s number of cases to 36,754.
No new deaths were reported, maintaining the county’s pandemic death toll of 476. The county’s positivity rate for the last seven days is 6.5%, health officials said.
As Austinites prepare for Thanksgiving on Thursday, Deputy Medical Director Dr. Jason Pickett said during a Travis County Commissioners Court meeting on Tuesday that residents should be cautious about getting together with family and friends from outside their household.
“There is a desire to get together and forget about this (pandemic) for our own mental health and human connection,” Pickett said. “I think that is very important and I understand that people will want to do that, but understand that some activities are higher risk and gathering indoors, in large groups is the highest risk you can take.”
Part of the concern for Thanksgiving is a lack of staff to manage the number of patients in intensive care units, Pickett said.
“Our ability to increase staff for ICU is not what it was,” he said. “This is what caused us to trigger the move to Stage 4.”
Last week, Travis County went into Stage 4 of Austin Public Health’s risk-based guidelines, which establish recommended rules for people at a high risk for severe symptoms of the coronavirus.
Under Stage 4 guidelines, all residents are encouraged to avoid social gatherings with people who do not live in their household. Residents should also avoid all nonessential travel and any other gatherings of more than 10 people.
Higher-risk individuals — those older than 65 and those who have chronic medical conditions — should stay home, unless they are going out to buy groceries or receive medical care.
Business and restaurant owners are asked to voluntarily reduce capacity from 75% percent to 25% or 50%.
And schools are encouraged to limit attendance at sporting events to only players, coaches and parents.
But health officials said they know families will gather regardless. To help prevent the spread of the virus, officials said residents should stagger the number of people visiting at a time. Gathering outside rather than inside and wearing masks can also help prevent the spread of the virus.
“The safest thing we can do right now is not gather indoors with people we do not live with,” Pickett said.
“We don’t want to see the same thing that happened after Memorial Day happen after Thanksgiving as well,” he said.
Getting a flu shot can also help prevent the climb of hospitalizations, officials said.
Travis County Judge Andy Brown said the more precautions people take now, the quicker the area can get through COVID-19. He said people should wear masks, wash their hands and get flu shots.
“It’s going to be up to the community, and what we do over the next few days and over Thanksgiving, to determine the future of our health and businesses being able to remain open,” Brown said.
Austin-Travis County will also use the Warn Central Texas system, the regional emergency notification system, to send an emergency alert to residents about COVID-19 on Tuesday afternoon. The message will be sent in English and Spanish.
To receive alerts, residents must register cell phones and email addresses online at WarnCentralTexas.org. Landline phones are automatically opted into the system.
“Cases and hospitalizations are rising in the area and across Texas,” a written statement from Austin-Travis County officials says. “This message is a critical reminder to the community that everyone must do their part to combat COVID-19. Austinites should not gather with people they don’t live with during the Thanksgiving holiday. Additionally, the public needs to stay home as much as possible, wash their hands, and when in public wear a face covering and remain 6 feet apart from others.”
Credit: Source link
