Austin returns to Stage 3 guidelines after steady decline in COVID-19 cases, health officials say

Austin News Briefs - Austin American Statesman

Austin Public Health on Tuesday moved the community to Stage 3 of the agency's risk-based COVID-19 guidelines, allowing many Travis County residents to safely unmask while shopping and dining indoors. But Austin-Travis County Health Authority Dr. Desmar Walkes, who announced the positive change during a joint Austin City Council and Travis County Commissioners Court meeting Tuesday, still urged the public to be cautious while moving forward into the fall and winter seasons. Health experts have blamed the most recent surge in coronavirus cases on the potent combination of the delta variant and a significant population of unvaccinated residents. But now hospitals are girding against a much older threat: flu season.