Photo by Roschetzky Photography
The City of Austin issues a new recommendation to wear face masks in public, but Mayor Steve Adler says it’s really not believed you’ll be any safer if you do.
“It decreases the chances if you have the virus and are asymptomatic; you don’t have symptoms, but you can still be contagious. A face mask decreases the possibility that you’re going to give the virus to somebody else,” says Adler.
The move is in line with the CDC’s recent recommendation. Adler says it’s important to remember to continue to stay at least six feet apart from one another even while wearing one of those masks. Austin police officers are now wearing surgical masks while on patrol. Chief Brian Manley says the department has been sitting on a limited number of them until it got word from the CDC that they should be put to use.
“We’ve now received the direction based on CDC and medical direction, that we should in fact be wearing masks when out in public and working,” says Manley.
Each officer is getting roughly 10 days worth of masks, but they will be asked to reuse them whenever possible. They’re not N95 grade, and they don’t fully protect the officers against the virus.
There are now six dead in Travis County from COVID-19 and the number of total cases has rocketed up to 484, as of today. Williamson County officials say a man in his fifties died over the weekend, bringing its total dead now to two. There are 77 total cases confirmed in Williamson County. No deaths reported in Hays or Bastrop counties, each with 54 and 10 cases, respectively.
A Capital Metro mechanic who recently tested positive for Coronavirus has died. However, it’s unclear if he’s one of the six deaths being reported by Austin Public Health. The cause of his death has not yet been confirmed. Cap Metro says that the mechanic did not have interaction with the public while he was on duty.
Some of Austin’s homeless are still waiting for a hotel or motel room to shelter in place. The city’s Vela Carmen says they’re moving ahead with the hotel/motel plan to help people who don’t have a home get a place to hunker down during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Carmen says they have one hotel set up right now, “and we’re setting up additional hotels specifically for that purpose with the homeless population in mind. Even folks who might be in spaces where there are a lot of people in one space. If they start having symptoms, they may need to be separated.”
Aside from the rooms, she says, the city is also setting up more people and services to help the homeless during the outbreak.
HEB says its stores have been deep cleaned and sanitized numerous times since three employees have tested positive for COVID-19 at three different stores. They include the ones on East Riverside, East Seventh Street, and on the 16900 block of Highway 620. HEB’s now launched an online tool, letting you see when an affected employee was last inside of a store and all employees are now being given masks and gloves as well.
Online classes officially begin today in the Austin School District, which has also announced the indefinite closure of all 130 of its campuses. Associate Superintendent of Academics Dr Lisa Goodnow tells CBS Austin some students may excel, while others may need much more attention and emotional support. The district is still working with the Texas Education Agency to also revise grading policies. The Austin School Board will have a special meeting tonight to further discuss the response to COVID-19 including the recent announcement that all campuses would remain closed indefinitely. The board’s also expected to discuss the ongoing search for a new superintendent.
Governor Greg Abbott is hopeful that Texas’ medical capacity will prevent the state from facing a similar situation as New York. Abbot says hospital capacities have been increasing by 142%.
“We are fully prepared for the hospital needs of Texans as we continue to respond to the Coronavirus in the State of Texas. We have the capacity to add even more beds as are needed in regions that may increase in patient needs.” Abbot’s medical equipment strike force has provided more than 1.5 million face masks, almost 200,000 face shields and more than two million gloves.
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