End of a dashboard

In a sign of the times, the city is retiring its Covid-19 dashboard. The dashboard, which had a devoted daily audience during the height of the pandemic, had “millions of views during its run” and was once a primary tool in making emergency operation, policy and personal decisions. Health care providers are no longer required by the state to report cases of Covid to Austin Public Health on an individual basis. However, APH will continue to respond to any outbreaks and continue outreach that includes vaccines for those who qualify. In addition, the health authority will continue to track the disease through wastewater surveillance, death records and outbreaks within at-risk communities. That data contributes to the still-running Texas Respiratory Virus Surveillance Report. The public should still employ safe practices, including keeping vaccines up to date and employing social distancing when ill. “This is the end of an era for Austin Public Health and the community we serve. We launched the dashboard at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it has been invaluable to our work for the last four years,” Austin-Travis County Health Authority Dr. Desmar Walkes said in a statement to the press. “The dashboard highlighted ZIP codes and populations that called for additional outreach, it showed us the effectiveness of our immunization and prevention campaigns and it served as a stark reminder of those who were lost and the importance of our continued efforts to fight this virus.”