AUSTIN (KXAN) -- In a joint Austin City Council, Travis County Commissioners meeting, Dr. Desmar Walkes, the local health authority, announced that the area is moving to Stage 4 risk-based guidelines.
Austin Public Health's website has also been updated to indicate we have moved to the less restrictive tier.
The 7-day moving average of hospital admissions, which is the metric APH largely uses to determine which risk-based guidelines we fall under, is now at 34. That puts the area squarely in the range for Stage 4.
It has been within that threshold for a week. Walkes told reporters in a media Q&A Friday that health leaders were waiting to make sure the trend continued downward before they officially called it.
"The behaviors that have been undertaken by our community to get our cases down has been effective," Walkes said Tuesday morning.
As of the latest numbers, 390 people are hospitalized in Austin-Travis County. There are 162 people in local ICUs. Walkes said 58% of people in hospitals right now come from surrounding counties, that's an increase from last week.
As we move to Stage 4 risk based guidelines here's what that means for you.
For vaccinated individuals the recommendations are as follows:
Stage 4: Participate in indoor or outdoor private gatherings, dine or shop, and travel with precautions.
For partially or unvaccinated individuals, the guidelines are stricter:
In Stages 4 and 5: All partially or not vaccinated individuals, regardless of risk should avoid most activities unless essential. It is recommended that shopping and dining be takeaway and/or curbside.
Recommendations can and have been changed by Austin Public Health as more data is collected on the delta variant and its impacts on our community.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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