Austin Public Health Confirms 2 Cases Of Coronavirus In Travis County

Staff Reports

Austin Public Health is monitoring two presumptive positive cases of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Austin-Travis County.

According to Dr. Mark Escott, Austin-Travis County Interim Medical Authority, these are the first cases to be confirmed in the area. 

“This is concerning but not surprising, and we have been prepared for the arrival of COVID-19 in our area,” said Dr. Escott. “It is critical that the community continue to heed our recommendations and take personal hygiene seriously. This will be the key to ensuring that this virus doesn’t spread.”

The confirmation of these cases has elevated the Austin Public Health (APH) response to Phase three of a five-phase plan, adapted from the city’s pandemic flu plans.

• Phase 1: Persons Under Monitoring
• Phase 2: Persons Under Investigation (Testing in Progress)
• Phase 3: Confirmed Case (No Person-to-Person spread)
• Phase 4: Limited Person-to-Person Spread (Close/Household Contacts)
• Phase 5: Person-to-Person Spread in the Community

Officials said the cases are not believed to be community spread, which means the illness did not come from an unknown infected person with whom they had come into contact with.

One of the individuals, who is over the age of sixty, was transferred from a hospital in another county and is critically ill.

The other case is linked to a case from the Houston area and is quarantined at home; all individuals in her household are under observation.

“We expect there to be more cases,” Escott said. “We expect there to be some element of community, person-to-person spread. But it is critical for us to limit that to small numbers of people, so we never exceed the capacity of our healthcare system to manage that number of cases.”

The City of Austin and Travis County will be evaluating additional protections for the community based on these positive cases.

At this time, they have not made any additional changes to current regulations around mass gatherings or other public health standards but will keep the public updated if this information changes.

APH is continuing to coordinate with local, state, and federal public health and health care partners. They continue to urge everyone to help limit the spread of disease through proper hygiene practices.

The Austin-Travis County Emergency Operations Center remains activated.

Escott said the community is fighting two epidemics right now: COVID-19 and fear. 

“We can choose two paths at this stage,” Escott said. “One path is fear and panic. The other is strength and resiliency. We have to choose strength.”