Coronavirus: Williamson County Extends 'Stay Home' Order

WILLIAMSON COUNTY, TX — Citing a University of Texas at Austin model projecting that 100,000 residents could ultimately contract coronavirus given current trends, Williamson County officials on Tuesday extended its shelter-in-place order.

To further mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 virus that causes respiratory illness, Williamson County Judge Bill Gravell extended the region's "Stay Home Stay Safe" order until 11:59 p.m. April 30. Gravell said the decision was made following similar directives by the president and governor.

The "Stay Home Stay Safe" directives, Gravell explained, are intended to help control the spread of COVID-19 by keeping people isolated at home. “Challenging times call for us to make hard decisions, but these have been made with the priority to keep our community as safe as possible, especially those who are part of the vulnerable population,” he said.

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With the extension of the "Stay Home Stay Safe" order in place, the goal is to prevent exceeding hospital capacity and to avoid overwhelming the health care system which is currently working around the clock to tend to those who have been impacted by COVID-19, the judge further explained.

Also informing his decision is a UT-Austin model on social distancing that heightens the urgency in limiting social interactions by 90 percent in order to flatten the illness curve and blunt the spread of the virus, the judge said.

“The UT model shows that approximately 100,000 people in Williamson County could end up contracting COVID-19," Gravell said. "Of those, they predict 5,000 will be hospitalized with nearly 800 in intensive care and hundreds dying. The only way to prevent this is to be vigilant in our efforts at social distancing and staying home.”

Related story: Coronavirus: WilCo Illness Count Grows To 87, 4th Death Reported

The extended order came on the same day that WilCo health officials reported six new coronavirus cases in the county, bringing the total to 87. Additionally, health officials reported a fourth person in the county, a woman in her 50s, had succumbed to the illness.

Under the extension, essential activities and businesses may continue their operations, the judge noted. For more information on the "Stay Home Stay Safe" extension, and a list of allowed activities during the order visit, www.wilco.org/coronavirus.