AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- Travis County Republicans are blasting a health order from local officials that aims to keep schools closed to in-person learning through at least September 8.
"This outrageous order is unconstitutional and unjustified and parents across Austin should be irate," Matt Mackowiak, chairman of the Travis County Republican Party, said in a statement. "We urge every parent to call their Superintendent and school Principal, and to call the Mayor and their City Council member to express their outrage at this order. Dr. Escott should immediately reconsider the scope of this drastic rule and immediately withdraw it."
Escott's order, issued Tuesday evening, blocks schools across the county from offering in-person instruction before September 8. It applies to public and private schools, and also prohibits extracurricular activities and sports until in-person classes resume.
Mackowiak questions whether the order would stand legal muster, raising a First Amendment issue with the order applying to church and parochial schools.
The statement goes on to challenge Escott's projection of possible deaths should schools open. Escott, during a Travis County Commissioners court meeting Tuesday, said that data Austin Public Health is using shows a death rate of .03% to 1.02% in the 10-19 age group. "For Travis County, that would equate to between 40 and 1,370 deaths in that age group," Escott told the court.
Mackowiak cites a Swiss study of COVID-19 infection rates indicating the death rate could be far lower than the estimate Escott relayed Tuesday. The Swiss study, Mackowiak says, shows a fatality rate of .0016% for ages 5-9 and .00032% for ages 10-19.
"Perhaps Dr. Escott should focus instead on other mass gatherings in the city, such as protests against the Austin police and homeless camps throughout the city, in which participants are not likely to engage in the kinds of careful safety measures that are necessary and were planned by schools ready to reopen," Mackowiak said.