Coronavirus: Travis County Illness Count 7,825, 1 New Death

AUSTIN, TX — The number of new cases of the coronavirus in Travis County on Saturday increased by 476 in two days, bringing the historical total to 7,825. Health officials confirmed another person succumbed to the illness, bringing the fatality count to 117.

The updated figures are found on a statistical dashboard maintained by Austin Public Health. The dashboard was down on Friday for maintenance, and reflects two-day increases as a result. In terms of recoveries from the respiratory illness, health officials said 5,552 people have been cleared to date which represents an increase of 476 from Thursday.

The two-day count of new cases represents an average of 364 additional cases across that span of time. The dashboard lists 316 hospitalizations, including 114 being treated at intensive care units and another 47 patients placed on ventilators.

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New data come after Austin Mayor Steve Adler revealed there were 59 new hospitalizations for the county in a single day — a new all-time high. County health officials had hoped to keep the number of daily hospitalizations at 20, a barometer now obliterated.

"We’re at a critical point," Adler said on Friday. "Now is the most important time we’ve had so far during the course of COVID-19 for you to be taking every precaution. Here’s why: The scientists, doctors and modelers at the University of Texas are telling us that on the current trajectory that we're on, we could well hit the capacity of our available COVID-19 hospital beds by mid-July."

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Given the surge in additional cases, Adler said the importance of wearing protective facial coverings and maintaining a six-foot distance with others when outdoors is heightened. Health officials have emphasized the need for such measures that are seen as the most effective tactics in blunting the spread of illness.

"We have a window now, a very small window, maybe seven days — maybe two weeks — to have people really change behaviors," Adler said. "To wear masks, to social distance so we can disrupt and at least slow the rate of our current trajectory."

The mayor offered guidance to residents wanting to help curb the illness scourge:

• Stay home, especially if you think there’s even a chance you could be infected;
• Wear your mask if you have to go out;
• Keep at least 6 feet of distance from other people;
• Do not gather in groups (outside those in your household); and,
• Call your friends and family in our city and ask them to do the same. Then ask them to call their friends and family to practice these behaviors.

"Each of our individual choices will add up to be our collective community response and will determine the lives lost and lives lived in our community," Adler said. "And whether or not we can sustain the opening of the economy."

The mayor added the region remains at a stage 4 risk level, with 7-day average hospitalizations at 47.1 "...and growing exponentially," he added. Adler provided a chart illustrating the various risk level alerts:

Austin Public Health graphic.

The uptick in illness throughout Travis County comes amid record-breaking rates of illness across Texas. Given such increases, officials at the city, county and state levels have taken measures to help stem the tide of illness:

• Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday ordered all bars to close, along with tubing and rafting operations.
• Austin and Travis County officials issued orders banning outdoor crowds of more than 100 people.
• On Thursday, Abbott also put a pause on continued reopening of the economy, which amounts to holding off on allowing businesses catering to the public to operate at full capacity since most businesses had already been allowed to reopen per his earlier orders.
• Also on Thursday, Abbott banned all elective surgeries and procedures from taking place to make hospital space available for a potential influx of newly diagnosed coronavirus patients.