Students who participate in unmasked extracurricular activities or live on college campuses should consider wearing protective equipment while gathering with family for the holidays, Travis County’s top health official said Tuesday.
Dr. Mark Escott, interim Austin-Travis County health authority, said he recommends that middle school, high school and college students who plan to be home for the holidays practice social distancing and wear masks around family if they participated in any activities that could have put them at risk for catching or spreading COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
Escott’s recommendation Tuesday to the Travis County Commissioner Court comes after the the seven-day average for new hospital admissions for COVID-19 reached 30 this week. At the beginning of October, the average was just 12.
Health officials on Tuesday said the seven-day average positivity test rate for new cases has also increased significantly this week. On Monday, the average was 6.7%. Last week, the seven-day moving average for positive cases was 5.3%, while the previous week was 3.9%.
Austin Public Health uses both the seven-day average for new hospitalizations and the positivity test rate for new cases as its primary key indicators for the risk-based guidelines.
Escott on Tuesday continued to recommend that Travis County residents abandon plans to gather with extended family during Thanksgiving. University of Texas projections show that cases will continue to trend upward if people do not isolate at home and wear protective equipment while outside during the next few weeks.
Escott last week said he may recommend that Austin-area officials tighten coronavirus restrictions if cases do not improve quickly. While Escott made no mention of his possible recommendation Tuesday, he did say Gov. Greg Abbott may soon decrease business capacity across the state if the upward trend continues.
As of Tuesday, many businesses across Texas could operate at 75% capacity, but Escott hinted that Abbott may push the capacity back down to 50% if trends do not improve quickly.
State health officials are especially concerned with rising cases in El Paso. Travis County hospitals are now accepting patients from the border city, but Escott said the death toll also continues to rise dramatically.
El Paso reported 13 new deaths Tuesday, for a total of 782. The city had 34,487 active cases by Tuesday morning.
Travis County coronavirus data does not get published until Tuesday evening. However, health officials reported 1,975 active cases and no new deaths on Monday night. Total deaths in Travis County as of Monday evening was 466.
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