Austin Public Health provides latest COVID data to Travis County commissioners

AUSTIN, Texas - Austin Public Health provided the latest numbers on the coronavirus in Austin-Travis County in its weekly update to the Travis County Commissioners Court.

Dr. Mark Escott spoke about the most recent data and is making his recommendations on steps that should be taken to continue to stop the spread.

Dr. Escott said that since the beginning of September that there's been an increase in the 7-day moving average of new confirmed cases but that it's been leveling off a bit. He said the 7-day moving average has increased 50% since September 1.

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New admissions however have gone down. Dr. Escott says the 7-day moving average for those is 20% less than on September 1. He says it's not clear if there'll be a plateau or increase but he says that the models predict it will stay flat through the middle of October.

Hospitalizations, ICU bed usage, and ventilator usage are all seeing reductions as well since September 1. Dr. Escott says because of this, people should try to go see their doctor and get elective procedures done and not delay preventative care. He says this is especially true for immunizations like getting the flu vaccine.

The Hispanic and African-American population continue to be disproportionately affected by COVID-19.

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In terms of age, Dr. Escott says there's been a significant increase in cases in those ages 50-59. He says the 10-19 group is also seeing a rising number of cases.

Dr. Escott also showed a snapshot of one of the city's COVID-19 dashboards which showed zip code specific data on positivity rates and where cases were happening.

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