AUSTIN (KXAN) — At least 12 people have the delta variant in Travis County, Dr. Desmar Walkes said Tuesday in a virtual Travis County Commissioners Court.
Dr. Walkes said they're seeing a "rapid spread" of the delta variant, mostly in unvaccinated people, and in younger people who are not yet approved to be vaccinated. Nearly 20 percent of people who are in the ICU with COVID-19 in Austin are under the age of 30.
"We're at a crossroads," Dr. Walkes said. "We're planning for alternate care sights now." She also said area health leaders are talking seriously about "mass casualty planning."
Dr. Walkes said that of the nearly 690,000 people who have been fully vaccinated in Travis County since January 1, 623 people have tested positive for COVID-19 despite being vaccinated. She stressed that even though we're seeing more breakthrough cases because of the delta variant, it's still important to get the vaccine.
"That is a good success rate for our community, that is what we need to talk away from this," Dr. Walkes said. "The rise is not as important as the fact that the vaccine itself does protect."
Below you can see the University of Texas' most recent projections for both hospitalizations and ICU patients in the the Austin-Round Rock area.
According to the Austin COVID-19 dashboard, which was updated Sunday, 227 people are hospitalized right now. The seven day moving average is 37, which means roughly 37 people are being admitted to area hospitals daily. That statistic is largely what steers risk-based guidelines in the Austin-Travis County area.
Stage 5 risk-based guidelines would be triggered when that seven day moving average hits 50 or more, health leaders can trigger it more quickly should they see a dramatic rate of increase. To move back down to Stage 3, the 7-day rolling average of new admissions would need to be less than 30.
"This unrelenting rise has to stop," Dr. Walkes said.
The Austin-Travis County area is in Stage 4 risk-based guidelines right now, which asks people who are unvaccinated to avoid any travel or shopping unless absolutely necessary, and to do so in a mask. It also asks people who are vaccinated to mask up.
The guidelines are not enforceable by Austin-Travis County, because of an executive order signed by Gov. Greg Abbott, but are what Dr. Walkes has previously called an individual call to action.
Meanwhile, the CDC is expected to backpedal on some of its masking guidelines Tuesday. A federal official, who anonymously spoke to the Associated Press, said the agency would be recommending that vaccinated people wear masks indoors in parts of the country where the virus was surging.
Several cities nationwide have already reinstated their masks mandates this month including Savannah, Georgia and St. Louis.
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