AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- Austin health officials are returning the area to Stage 5 in Austin Public Health's COVID-19 risk-based guidelines, officials announced Thursday morning.
“We are here today, unfortunately, to announce that we are re-entering Stage 5 of our risk-based guidelines,” said Dr. Desmar Walkes, who serves as Austin-Travis County's local health authority.
In addition to Austin Public Health leaders, Austin Mayor Steve Adler, Travis County Judge Andy Brown, and Austin Chamber President Laura Huffman all joined the press conference.
"We cannot continue to be lax when it comes to protecting ourselves and preventing the spread of COVID-19," said Walkes. "That attitude has led us to return to Stage 5 and have one of the highest community transmission rates in the state. We all must do what we can to protect each other and our hospital systems, or else the situation will reach dire levels that no one wants to consider."
"All around us, we are seeing more and more people getting the omicron variant, and we know the risk of infection has increased,” said Adler. “It is now more important than ever to mask everywhere as our best chance to keep our hospitals staffed and our businesses open with healthy employees. We’re in a new stage that presents new challenges, and it requires a little more diligence for just a little longer.”
Under the Stage 5 guidelines, those who are fully vaccinated and boosted and are at low-risk for severe symptoms are encouraged to wear a mask for all indoor and outdoor gatherings, when traveling, and when dining outdoors or shopping. Those who are at high-risk but fully vaccinated should avoid indoor and outdoor gatherings, avoid non-essential travel, and avoid shopping in lieu of curbside or delivery services.
Those who are not fully vaccinated, or haven't yet gotten a booster shot when eligible, are also encouraged to avoid gatherings and travel.
“We see firsthand that the places where we gather, shop and work want to stay open to serve this community and keep our economy progressing forward,” said Huffman. "The local business community is counting on all of us to do our part and help keep the community safe and our workforce healthy. Let’s be a city of us by getting vaccinated and boosted and for right now, wearing a mask to protect ourselves and others to help beat the omicron variant.”
All three of the key "staging indicators" health officials have said they watch have been firmly in Stage 5 territory for several days now. As of Wednesday evening, the 7-day moving average of new hospitalizations rose to 74, while the community transmission rate sits at 1,067. The third is the positivity rate, which is sitting at 29%.