Travis County Gains 440 Coronavirus Cases, 7 More Deaths

AUSTIN, TX — The number of cases of the coronavirus in Travis County grew by 440 cases on Friday, bringing the total number to 14,304 since the onset of respiratory illness in the region. Health district officials also reported seven new deaths, for a historical total of 166 fatalities in the region.

According to a statistical dashboard maintained by Austin Public Health, 438 people are currently hospitalized with the illness, down 2 from Thursday. Among the patients, 133 are being treated at intensive care units and 88 have been placed on ventilators.

There were 66 new hospital admissions on Friday, with the seven-day moving average to 70 — two less than the previous day.

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In light of the growing rate of new diagnoses — and the attendant fears and anxiety the upward trajectory yields among the populace — Austin Mayor Steve Adler has scheduled a community conversation on Saturday (July 11) at 10 a.m. to discuss illness trends. Residents wishing to participate can do so by clicking here. The mayor said the remote meeting will be in five different languages.

The mayor addressed the trends in illness rates during his regular "Got a Minute?" video segment broadcast on his social media platforms to apprise residents. He was buoyed by a handful of metrics in the most recent analysis — the aforementioned slight drop in daily hospitalizations and the lowered seven-day average, to name two. "Some hint that things are leveling off," he said with palpably cautious optimism.

But in virtually the next breath, the mayor expressed worry of a potential upsurge stemming from 4th of July celebrations. He pointed to Memorial Day as an example of a potential uptick when illness rose exponentially after holiday revelry that occurred then in a living rebuke to the tactics of social distancing and wearing of protective masks.

Previous coverage:

• Texas Gains 8K-Plus New Coronavirus Cases In All-Time High
• Texas Coronavirus Gains Nearly 10K Cases, A Record 10K Admissions
• Record 98 New Coronavirus Deaths Logged In Texas, 9,979 New Cases
• Texas Gains More Than 10K New Coronavirus Cases, 60 New Deaths
• Texas Tops 200K Coronavirus Cases
• Texas Governor Mandates Face Masks Amid Coronavirus Spikes
• Coronavirus: Texas Points To Bed Availability As Illness Spikes
• Coronavirus Cases In Texas Top 153K, 4,288 New Cases
• Coronavirus: Texas Gets Nearly 6K New Cases In A Single Day
• Coronavirus: Texas Illness Count Grows By 5,707, 28 New Deaths
• Coronavirus: Texas Governor Orders All Bars To Close
• Coronavirus: Texas Bans Elective Surgeries Amid Illness Spikes
• Coronavirus: Texas Halts Economy Reopening Amid Growing Illness
• Coronavirus: Texas Mayors Given Greater Authority On Crowd Sizes
• Coronavirus: Governor Outlines Plan To Reopen Texas Economy
• Texas Governor Allows Malls, Restaurants, More To Open By May 1
• Coronavirus: Abbott To Let More Businesses Reopen Friday

"As I look at this chart, I'm concerned still about July 4th," Adler said as he studied a chart on hospital admissions. "On that July 4th weekend, if people were doing lots of barbecues, getting together with neighbors and friends, having pool parties, things that we might not have seen, we'll see that number change. We'll see that number spike and move. You can see the earlier spikes as we start having this go up associated with Memorial Day. So I'm hoping this doesn't happen."

The mayor applauded those who have changed their behaviors in adhering to health officials' guidance — social distancing, mask wearing, hand washing, sheltering in place and the like — which seems to have a positive net effect. He also spoke positively of the governor's giving local mayors and county judges the ability to enforce adherence to mask wearing for companies catering to the public.

"We cannot let up," the mayor said. "We have to keep our foot on the brake. If we're going to take our foot off the brake right now... we're going to undo the great work we have done the last three weeks."

Notwithstanding his tentative optimism, Adler was blunt in assessing the continued coronavirus threat: "This virus is going to be with us until there is a vaccine. People have to get used to wearing masks, that is part of our lives until we get a vaccine — if we actually want to have a chance of keeping the economy open, if we want to have a chance of having our kids at school."

Arguably his biggest concern, the mayor suggested, is the future availability of intensive care unit beds and having enough staff tending to patients. Other cities hit harder with the illness have already approached Austin medical officials about the possibility of using their space for out-of-town patients, heightening Adler's concerns about available space.

In a separate statement, Ascension Seton, Baylor Scott & White Health and St. David’s HealthCare issued a joint statement on Friday illustrating Adlers's concerns: "At this time, the three healthcare systems have 2,473 staffed beds collectively, and occupancy of those staffed beds is at 77 percent. Collectively, the three healthcare systems have 483 ICU beds and occupancy of those ICU beds is currently at 86 percent."

Illness rates across Texas have risen exponentially since Gov. Greg Abbott launched an aggressive reopening of the state economy on May 1 — the second governor to do so, one week after Georgia launched a similar move. Since then, the Lone Star State has come under an unwelcome spotlight nationally as a cautionary tale illustrating the perils of opening back up too soon.

Photo by Tony Cantú/Patch staff.

Along the way, Adler has become something of a fixture on national television programs in providing insight into the illness scourge from the state's capital. He's been featured on CNN, MSNBC and other programs as interviewers seek assessments on the Texas condition.

Photo by Tony Cantú/Patch staff.

Abbott has recently implemented several measures in attempts to stem the resulting illness tide — ordering bars to close again, mandating the use of protective masks, barring all elective surgeries and medical procedure to ensure space for a potential influx of coronavirus patients.

So far, the efforts don't seem to be working. This week, records in some key metrics were broken over consecutive days. On Friday, nearly 10,000 more cases of coronavirus emerged along with just over 10,000 new hospitalizations statewide — yet another record dramatically illustrating the seemingly interminable reach of a respiratory illness for which no vaccine exists.