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Tag Archives: Austin Public Health
Austin leaders encourage peer pressure to get folks to wear face masks and avoid crowding spaces
Austin and Travis County officials are urging people to wear face coverings and to avoid large gatherings as the city and the state reopen for business. If that refrain sounds familiar, it’s because you’ve heard the song and it bears…
Austin • By Andrew Weber, KUT • May 29, 2020
Travis County approves nursing home emergency staffing
People who live or work in nursing homes and senior living centers are some of the hardest hit by Covid-19. Austin Public Health has said both staff and residents are particularly vulnerable to the virus with 17 percent of the…
Travis County • By Jessi Devenyns • May 15, 2020
Commissioners Court discusses 'oscillation strategy' to exit quarantine
As the county’s May 8 end date for its stay-at-home order draws near, the Commissioners Court began to discuss the next steps in the battle to flatten the curve. “There is no return to ‘normal,’” County Judge Sarah Eckhardt said…
Public Health • By Jessi Devenyns • Apr 23, 2020
Austin health official expects city's face-covering guidance will become a requirement
The interim medical director and health authority for Austin-Travis County says he expects a recommendation for Austinites to wear fabric face coverings when they’re outside the home to become a requirement. Dr. Mark Escott said Monday that having people cover…
Public Health • By Andy Jechow, KUT • Apr 7, 2020
Austin Public Health is setting up two facilities to house nursing home residents with Covid-19
Austin Public Health announced Monday that its new nursing home task force is setting up sites to house nursing home residents who test positive for Covid-19. The city says these isolation facilities will give Covid-19 patients who don’t need hospitalization…
Public Health • By Marisa Charpentier, KUT • Mar 31, 2020
Updated: Austin closes bars, prohibits dining in at restaurants and limits gatherings in response to COVID-19
Restaurants are limited to drive-thru and pick-up service, bars must close, and indoor and outdoor gatherings of more than 10 people are prohibited in Austin effective noon Tuesday. Critical infrastructure, like grocery stores, pharmacies, government buildings, schools and hospitals, are…
Public Health • By Andy Jechow, KUT • Mar 17, 2020
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Public health experts address state of COVID-19, with no plans to scrap SXSW
Tuesday’s Travis County Commissioners Court meeting was virtually a preview of a news conference scheduled for today regarding the region’s response to the ongoing spread of COVID-19, more commonly known as the coronavirus. During a presentation to the five-member board,…
Public Health • By Chad Swiatecki • Mar 4, 2020
Austinites are not at higher risk of getting coronavirus after first confirmed case in Texas
Austin health officials say the threat of coronavirus has not gotten any worse now that the first case has been confirmed in Texas. Dr. Mark Escott, the interim medical director of Austin Public Health, said there is “virtually a zero-percent…
Public Health • By Ashley Lopez, KUT • Feb 14, 2020
For the first time since 1999, someone in Travis County has rubella
Public health officials on Thursday morning confirmed the first case of rubella in Travis County since 1999. The confirmation comes roughly a month after the first diagnosis of measles, which was last seen in the Austin area in 1999, too.…
Public Health • By Andrew Weber, KUT • Jan 17, 2020
Audit: Social services contract rules need update
The city auditor’s team studying the city’s social services contracting process found that even though Austin spends millions of dollars on social services contracts, the city “does not have an explicit definition of ‘social services’ and lacks a formal social…
Public Health • By Jo Clifton • Dec 12, 2019
Trying to get apartment, employee committed fraud
An Austin Public Health employee misused her city computer, fax machines and the department’s patient records in an attempt to rent an apartment, according to an investigative report from the Office of the City Auditor. The report states that Johnetta…
City Hall • By Jo Clifton • Dec 5, 2019
City budget boosts spending for homelessness services
The new city manager and City Council agree: The city needs more money to address the homelessness situation. The proposed Fiscal Year 2018-19 budget submitted by City Manager Spencer Cronk includes $3.1 million in new spending on homelessness-related services. That’s…