Photo by Roschetzky Photography
It’s been more than a month since Austin ordered restaurants to close and a statewide order followed shortly thereafter. Today dining rooms across the state are reopening their doors as part of phase one of Governor Greg Abbott’s reopening plan. Emily Knight with the Texas Restaurant Association says they expect more than 50% will likely stay closed.
“Some restaurants say they are gonna learn from some of the larger restaurants that are choosing to open, and going to watch their best practices through the weekend and into next week,” Knight says.
There is still a problem for those smaller restaurants to find certain items beyond food things like gloves and masks and no touch thermometers. About 10% say they may stay closed forever.
If you’re hoping to get in a round of golf soon, today may be the day for that. The City of Austin has updated its website showing groups of up to four people can now venture out onto the links. Many driving ranges are also opening back up. Governor Abbott’s new updated order does prohibit any contact sports.
Austin’s hotel occupancy has been very low amid the shutdown of business, but the new Smith Travel Research (STR) report shows a rate of 23.8%. That’s an increase of almost 3% between April 19-25 compared to the week of April 5-11 which saw the lowest percentage during the shutdown at 20.6%.
UT researchers find a little hope in antibodies produced in an unlikely source: llamas. Early studies have shown those antibodies to be effective at binding to viruses with a key protein found in coronavirus and blocking it from breaking through to other cells.
Associate professor Jason McClellan tells KVUE, “hopefully this can be given to people before they have an infection like healthcare workers; people we know are going to be exposed to it. People that were infected, potentially this could be administered after that.”
The group will soon be conducting pre-clinical studies on animals and non-human primates.
Austin and Travis County now have 1,654 confirmed cases of coronavirus. With three new deaths reported, that total is up to 47. 462 people have now recovered and there are 89 people in the hospital, which is slightly higher than normal.
175 of Williamson County’s 301 cases have made recoveries. The county’s hospitals have remained well intact during the outbreak. Health officials say only 43 people have ever required hospitalization and only 10 are currently requiring inpatient care.
More drivers are getting seriously hurt in crashes since the stay-at-home orders have been in place. The Transportation Department says the increase has been 20% compared to the 1-2 months of the year. Jay Crossley with Vision Zero tells CBS Austin careless driving only makes things worse for medical workers.
“One of the easiest things all of us can do to really help through this pandemic is not add to the pile of people coming to the emergency room,” Crossley says.
On the other hand, fewer cars on the road has led to an overall reduction of crashes by 20%.
The Texas Transportation Commission approves $3.4 billion to see I-35 in Austin add two more lanes to either side of it. TxDOT engineer Tucker Ferguson says they will reconstruct I-35 between 290 and Ben White. He says construction is only expected to start in 2025. In the meantime, they’ll be working with the community and local businesses to plan and design it.
“Part of the reason it takes so long to get construction is working out any impact,” Ferguson says. “We’re trying to minimize the impacts in our design with those businesses. So if there is one that needs to relocate or move, there would be time to do that if we work very closely with them.”
If all goes well, he expects construction to finish by 2030.
The suspension of all Class “C” misdemeanor warrants in Travis County has been extended through July 15th. County Judge Sarah Eckhardt says there will be no warrants issued to anyone who does not appear in court for a traffic ticket.
A.C.L.U. files a lawsuit to try to release immigrants from an I.C.E detention center in Conroe. The A.C.L.U. hass converted a previously filed lawsuit into a class-action suit representing all medically vulnerable detainees held at the Montgomery Processing Center in Conroe. A.C.L.U.attorney, Kate Huddleston filed the suit.
“People who are particularly vulnerable are in great danger and it’s especially urgent that they be released in order to protect their health and their lives,” Huddleston says.
She says conditions there don’t come close to CDC standards. Three detainees and four staffers have tested positive for COVID-19.
This news and more at News Radio KLBJ:
https://omny.fm/shows/klbjam-flash-briefing-1/am-newscast-5-1-20
