The city has started nine programs in nine months to help local Austin businesses survive the pandemic. On Thursday, City Council will consider final program guidelines for three more programs providing relief for child care providers, local music venues and restaurants. The city has allocated $5 million to each of these sectors: child care providers, […]
COVID-19
Posted inAustin
For child care providers in Austin, city relief couldn’t come soon enough
Patsy Harnage doesn’t get a lot of holidays. For the last decade, she’s grown accustomed to working herself to the bone. Operating a child care center is hard work, built on razor-thin margins. That’s part of the job; it’s an unsung vocation. The margins over the last half-year have been even thinner, and her business, […]
Posted inPublic Health
Austin Public Health urges people who gathered for Thanksgiving to get tested and stay home
Austin Public Health officials are asking people who traveled for the holiday or celebrated Thanksgiving indoors with people from outside their household to stay home for a week and get tested for Covid-19 within the next few days. “It is critically important that everyone do their part to combat Covid-19 by avoiding gatherings and travel […]
Posted inPublic Health
Austin health officials plead with residents to stay home for Thanksgiving
Local health officials are hoping people will heed the warnings about gatherings outside the household this week to avoid a repeat of what happened after other holidays this year. Most coronavirus numbers are still moving in the wrong direction in Austin and Travis County. There appears to be some improvement in recent days in the […]
Posted inAustin
Austin music venues won’t get Covid relief money until next year. They say they’re running out of time.
Jeannette Gregor was shaking, her voice quivering. “I am not a public speaker. This is actually kind of a nightmare for me – especially after about five months of isolation and no social contact,” she said back in September. “So if I don’t act right, sorry about it.” She’d never held a press conference, let […]
Posted inPublic Health
Austin area moves to Stage 4 Covid-19 risk guidelines
Lee esta historia en español. Austin is now under Stage 4 coronavirus risk guidelines, interim Austin-Travis County Health Authority Dr. Mark Escott announced Thursday, following an increase in hospitalizations and cases. Under these guidelines, the public is urged to avoid gatherings of more than 10 people, and businesses are recommended to reduce capacity to 25-50 […]
Posted inPublic Health
Austin’s HIV Planning Council takes on an epidemic amid a pandemic
This year has presented unique challenges to the HIV Planning Council, leading to new ways of delivering medication, virtual doctor visits and a newfound emphasis on mental health services. The HIV Planning Council is a group of volunteers appointed by the mayor who decide the allocation of funds from the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, which […]
Posted inPublic Health
Officials say Austin will see a second Covid-19 surge, unless people recommit to social distancing
Health officials are pleading with Austinites to avoid gatherings and get tested for Covid-19 as cases and hospitalizations approach the same levels seen in June, right before the first surge. Over the past month, the Austin area doubled its moving average of new cases, hospital admissions and ICU admissions. Austin Public Health said the five-county […]
Posted inPublic Health
Austin’s seeing its highest Covid cases since August. Most of those cases are among younger people.
Active Covid-19 cases in Austin have hit their highest levels since August, a rise Austin Public Health officials have largely pinned on 20- to 39-year-olds. In an announcement Thursday morning, health officials said more than half of positive tests in the five-county Austin area were among folks within that age range and urged people who […]
Posted inAustin
The pitfalls of being an Austin service industry worker during Covid-19
Gina Dvorak has been working since she was 16 – she’s never not had a job. So when she was furloughed from the serving job she’s held for over 10 years at an Austin Japanese restaurant, she fell into a state of depression and uncertainty. Dvorak joined the droves of other service industry workers who […]
Posted inHousing
Concerned that money will go unspent, Austin makes changes to its rent help program
Renters affected financially by the Covid-19 pandemic can now apply for up to six months of rent from the city’s rent assistance program, where previously they could apply for only up to three. The change comes as the city worries it won’t be able to distribute millions in funds by a federally imposed deadline. “The […]
Posted inCity Hall
City ethics commission wrestles with access during pandemic
In its previous, pre-pandemic incarnation, the city’s Ethics Review Commission met in a back room of City Hall that was often jammed full of commissioners, accusers, defenders, and occasionally, reporters. But the meetings were open to the public, and once inside that awkward, cramped room, it was easy enough to figure out what was happening. […]