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KUT Long lines formed at grocery stores, like the H-E-B on 41st Street in Austin, as temperatures warmed up last Friday. Countless people sought shelter last week wherever they could, trying to escape the severe cold when their power went out or to gain access to running water. That led to close contact with others from outside their households and possible exposure to the coronavirus. Austin Public Health Chief Epidemiologist Janet Pichette encourages people who suspect they might have been exposed to quarantine themselves and schedule a COVID test. We haven t seen an uptick as of yet; we re still playing catch-up, Pichette said during a news conference Friday, the first in two weeks. Obviously, testing operations, even receipt of laboratory reports from testing operations throughout the city and from the state health department kind of ceased during that time period, they kind of trickled in. ....
KUT Austin Public Health has set up an alternate care site at the Austin Convention Center to take in patients if area hospitals become overwhelmed. Austin Public Health is preparing to use the alternate care site at the city’s convention center to open up beds in local hospitals as COVID-19 admissions continue surging in Central Texas. There were 115 new hospital admissions Tuesday, and the city’s interim health authority says ICUs could reach capacity by next week. “My guess is that this week or next week, we will start the activation process for the alternate care site,” Dr. Mark Escott said Wednesday. “It seems very clear to us that we are going to run out of hospital beds and that we are going to have to stretch out resources in order to meet the needs of our community.” ....
People should take the rising number of COVID-19 cases into consideration as they weigh their holiday plans this week, the interim health authority for Austin-Travis County said. “Our best advice is stay home and don’t travel,” Dr. Mark Escott told reporters during a news conference Monday. Escott said the city is facing an “unprecedented” surge in COVID-19 cases. So far, cases have increased 86% since the beginning of the month. “This week COVID-19 will become the third leading cause of death in Travis County for 2020,” he said. Coronavirus in Austin, Texas: Health leaders give update before Christmas | KVUE Janet Pichette, Austin Public Health’s chief epidemiologist, said the current surge in cases is largely linked to Thanksgiving gatherings. She said that should serve as a warning to everyone making plans this week. ....
A medical professional walks outside Dell Seton Medical Center in Austin. Roughly nine months into the pandemic, Austin is seeing its highest number of active COVID-19 infections ahead of the holidays, and health officials are begging residents to limit contact to battle back the virus spread. Austin Public Health attributes the rise in cases largely to gatherings over Thanksgiving. Forecasts suggest that if left unchecked, the spread could lead to a real disaster that could cripple Austin s hospital capacity. Right now we are at a place where we have more active infections in our community than at any other point in time in this pandemic, Austin Public Health s interim Medical Director Dr. Mark Escott said Wednesday. ....