Austin, Travis County move down to Stage 3 COVID-19 recommendations

Austin Public Health loosened COVID-19 safety protocol for many area residents March 1. However, officials stressed the importance of masking during spring break and the festival season.

At a joint meeting between Austin and Travis County, Austin Public Health announced it was moving from Stage 4 to Stage 3 guidance. The main difference is the updated stage does not ask fully vaccinated, low-risk individuals to wear masks when dining and shopping indoors.

The move comes as the seven-day moving average of hospital admission falls to 20, according to public health authority Desmar Walkes.

The change comes five days after APH moved to Stage 4. Previously, Travis County spent most of early 2022 in Stage 5.

Walkes said Travis County residents should continue to wear masks in public and in schools until the end of the March festival season and spring break on March 20.

The announcement follows new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that lessens mask guidance for many U.S. residents.

It also comes as Austin ISD officials prepare to hold a meeting on mask mandates.