City of Austin extends Stay Home, Work Safe order to June 15

Interview with Austin Mayor Steve Adler - 5/29/2020

AUSTIN, Texas - Austin Mayor Steve Adler has announced an extension of Austin's current Stay Home, Work Safe order. The extension goes into effect at 11:59 p.m. on Saturday, May 30, and extends until June 15 at 11:59 p.m. The extension coincides with the expiration of the current Travis Country, nearly parallel order.

The order extension continues most all the provisions from the prior city order, including the mandates to stay at home except as specifically allowed, avoid gatherings, observe social distancing, and wear face coverings.

No gatherings of more than 10 people are allowed in line with the city’s current risk-based guidelines.

“With this extended order, the city is doing everything the law allows to keep our community as safe as possible, to give the governor’s reopening of the economy the greatest chance of succeeding and being sustained and to retain for our community the ability we each have as individuals to make choices that seek to prevent our hospitals from being overwhelmed,” said Mayor Steve Adler in a news release.

The city’s extended order is now in line with the new reopenings allowed by Governor Greg Abbott's statewide orders and to other new provisions with which the prior city order may have been in conflict.

The extended city order is consistent with the governor’s statewide order which maintains and continues the requirement that everyone “shall minimize social gatherings and in-person contact not in the same household” except as specifically allowed. The city’s order recognizes the growing list of exceptions allowed by the statewide order.

Under the latest statewide executive order which initiated greater social and business interactions, certain non-essential businesses and services may reopen including bars, rodeos, in-store retail, dine-in restaurant services, movie theaters, museums, libraries, shopping malls, golf courses, wedding venues, salons and barber shops, tanning salons, pools, gyms and more. Some are limited to certain occupancy levels.

City officials say it remains unclear whether resulting new interactions will lead to a spike that would overwhelm hospitals.

City officials shocked by crowds in bars, clubs, other places over Memorial Day weekend

Dr. Escott says for the next year we are going to have to be very careful when we are outside our homes, and that message has not changed.

Local public health officials will continue to monitor multiple indicators, including but not limited to infections and hospitalizations. It will take data from over the next three to four weeks to assess changes in policies enacted over the last couple of weeks.

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The latest statewide order remains in effect through June 3 and is subject to extension based on the status of COVID-19 in Texas. The state says its order may also be extended based on recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the White House Coronavirus Task Force.

Austin Public Health continues to remind the community of the importance of practicing good hygiene, physical and social distancing, and wearing face coverings to help keep each other safe.

The public is encouraged to fill out the Public Enrollment Testing Form at www.austintexas.gov/COVID19 to see if they're eligible for a free COVID-19 test. If you are approved for free testing, you can schedule an appointment at a drive-thru testing site.

Officials remind the public that if you are experiencing severe symptoms like chest pain, difficulty breathing, confusion, or a fever that doesn’t respond to medication, please call 911 or go to the ER.

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