Travis County Reports 157 New Coronavirus Cases, 34,769 Total

TRAVIS COUNTY, TX — Travis County health district officials reported 157 more new cases of the coronavirus on Monday, bringing the cumulative total to 34,769. No new deaths were reported, keeping the historical level to 466.

The data are found in a statistical dashboard maintained by Austin Public Health. According to the latest statistics, there were 182 county residents hospitalized — 64 being treated at intensive care units and 32 placed on ventilators. Twenty-five new hospital admissions were recorded on Monday, according to the dashboard.

The ever-rising seven-day rolling average of new hospitalizations was 30.3 — the first time it's been above 30 since Aug. 17. The record for the highest seven-day average of new hospitalizations was set on July 8, when 75.1 were reported.

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"We're seeing our numbers increase," Austin Mayor Steve Adler wrote on Twitter. "We are in a fight to keep schools and businesses open. If the will is in our community to stop the spread, we can, and we will. We've done it before. Stay vigilant. Mask. Watch your distance. Wash your hands."

In his latest "Got a Minute?" video segment designed to apprise the public on city affairs, Adler said that while other cities such as El Paso, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio are posting bigger gains in illness levels, "...our numbers scary enough by themselves. "

He noted the growth in the seven-day rolling average was particularly concerning. "Wasn't that long ago when our running average was 12," he said. "We were trying to get it below 10. If we get to 40, we start into the orange zone, and as you can see we're headed in that direction."

Monday's numbers were higher than the seven-day rolling average even though typically the metric is lower on Mondays, the mayor noted. He offered context in terms of the coronavirus threat, saying it was more than ten times the number of people who have been the victims of homicide in Austin. "This virus represents the single largest threat to public safety," the mayor said.

Travis County is currently under a Stage 3 alert level, which is colored yellow of a five-level scale. The penultimate level of orange preceding the top red level, the mayor noted.

Graphic via Austin Public Health.

"We're not at the place yet when we have hit the trigger requiring real drastic action, but we could be just a few days away of moving to orange," Adler said, noting the level would prompt greater calls for people to stay at home as much as possible. "And then if that doesn't work a week or two later — not very far off — we could be looking at taking more drastic action which none of us wants to take. I don't know what that more drastic action would look like. We want to keep our schools open, we want to keep open businesses as much as we can."

The mayor used Austin High School as an example for the need to take precautions, noting that the school has closed amid growing cases of coronavirus.

The key to mitigate illness: "Everybody has to wear masks," the mayor said. "When you are not in your house and you are around people in public, you need to wear a mask. Period."