Austin To Start Issuing Fines As Coronavirus Spreads

AUSTIN, TX — In terms of the coronavirus in Travis County, the region reported record numbers on Wednesday — grim milestones as health officials grapple with an upsurge of the respiratory illness. The number of cases of the coronavirus grew by 753 new cases — exceeding the previous single-day record for a single-day increase — and eight new deaths were reported.

The rising illness rates prompted Austin City Council members on Thursday to pass enforcement measures in the form of fines to those not adhering to safety measures designed to blunt the spread of illness. Council members unanimously passed the measures during a specially called meeting on Thursday. Council member Greg Casar tweeted on the development while concurrently advising residents to wear masks.

City council members also passed an ordinance allowing non-conforming businesses a "public nuisance" in strongly coaxing adherence to local rules designed to blunt the spread of illness.

According to a statistical dashboard maintained by Austin Public Health, 159 people have died from the respiratory illness since the onset of illness. The total number of confirmed cases for the county now totals 13,161, according to the dashboard. Moreover, currently there are 458 people hospitalized across the five-county metro area, according to the data.

A particularly troubling guidepost is the seven-day average for new hospital admissions. The 67 new admissions recorded on Wednesday thrust the level to 75.1, well above the threshold of 70 that health officials have said might trigger a citywide shutdown under a Stage 5 risk level in attempts to blunt the illness spread.

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Austin City Council called a special meeting on Thursday to discuss the spread of the illness following recent surges in coronavirus cases and related hospitalizations. Among the topics discussed were the possibility of assessing fines to those not adhering to safety guidelines — the wearing of protective face coverings, physical distancing and the like — and potentially issuing a "public health nuisance" tag to work sites not following minimum health standards.

Related stories:

• Travis County Illness Count Passes 12K, 7 More Deaths
• Austin Could Upgrade Coronavirus Threat Level To Stage 5
• Texas Gains More Than 10K New Coronavirus Cases, 60 New Deaths
• Austin Rolls Out Coronavirus Testing Sites At Underserved Areas

Ultimately, council unanimously passed several measures allowing for the issuance of fines to residents businesses not adhering to local health and safety rules, including the wearing of protective masks. Those not adhering to health guidelines could now be assessed fines of up to $2,000 as a result of the passed ordinances.

Yet the city stopped short of elevating the regional risk level to the highest Stage 5 level. Interim Health Authority Dr. Mark Escott said he met with various community stakeholders, including the University of Texas at Austin, and the decision was made to track the illness trajectory further before raising the alert. Escott said the illness trend is dependent on residents exercising safety measures, and the coronavirus trajectory will continue to be studied.

A discrepancy in testing results versus actual numbers of active cases figured prominently in the decision not to enter into a Stage 5 scenario. Earlier this week and reiterated on Thursday, Escott explained that some tests take up to ten days before results are given, a time frame not conducive in accurately calculating the coronavirus calculus.

This is how Austin Public Health explained the testing results discrepancy:

"The data for new hospital admissions per day has been adjusted today, July 7, to address discrepancies dating back to June 23 between the number of new admissions and the total increase in hospitalized individuals.

"Previous data sets did not retroactively adjust new hospital admissions for patients who were admitted to the hospital but did not receive a positive COVID-19 test result until after their initial admission date. Our updated data corrects for these discrepancies, putting us at 74.9 for the 7-day moving average of new hospital admissions per day, which is reflected in the COVID-19 dashboard and the Key Indicators dashboard.

"Utilizing the moving average of the new hospital admissions as the primary indicator, current Austin Public Health Risk-Based Guidelines recommend either Stage 4 or Stage 5 level of risk. The exact hospitalization trigger ranges from 70-123 new hospital admissions per day on the 7-day moving average, depending on the rate of increase.
"A more rapid increase in the daily average will trigger Stage 5 risk recommendations when the number reaches the lower end of this range.

"We are currently evaluating the impact of passing the threshold of 70 as well as updated modeling and secondary indicators, such as doubling times of cases, hospitalizations, and ICU patients, to make a final determination of the stage of risk for the City of Austin and Travis County later this week."

Updated illness data for Thursday is expected to be released by early evening. Patch will update this story to reflect the new data.