Austin tightens permitting rules for special events as delta variant spreads

The Austin Center for Events announced Aug. 27 updated health and safety rules for events permitted through the city, requiring negative COVID-19 tests and more tightened measures developed in coordination with Austin Public Health.

The city first implemented a COVID-19 health and safety form as part of its event permitting process in April with its "Bringing Events Back" guide, requiring a coronavirus safety plan for large events of 1,000 or more people indoors or 2,500-plus people outdoors. Starting Aug. 30, those requirements will be heightened to mandate guests to provide a negative COVID-19 tests taken with 72 hours at the event entrance. Additionally, event coordinators must present strategies for maintaining at least 6 feet of social distancing and set up "mask zones" in areas of outdoor venues where social distancing is not possible.

“The challenge is that we are in an ever-evolving situation. The Austin Center for Events and APH teams are committed to working with event organizers to provide as much information as available to help inform event planning efforts to keep our community safe," said Beth Culver, assistant director of the Austin Development Services Department, in a statement.

Other considerations when evaluating event permits will include whether the event is determined to have an outsize impact on the city's available emergency medical resources. The city recently set a precedent for denying permits for such a reason, alerting the organizers of BatFest that their permit application had been rejected days before the Aug. 28 event was set to take place.

"We do not want to choose between having an event and ... [having] an [intensive care unit] bed available for someone that needs intensive care," said Dr. Desmar Walkes, the Austin-Travis County health authority, at an Aug. 27 news conference.

Walkes said there are 239 ICU beds occupied by COVID-19 patients in Austin-area hospitals, well above the allotted capacity of 200. With other metropolitan areas in Texas also experiencing surges in hospitalizations due to the rapidly spreading delta variant, Walkes said transferring patients to hospital systems in other cities is not an option.

"What's happening is that we're stretching our current resources to the max," Walkes said.

The updated rules do not apply to events at Q2 Stadium, the Circuit of the Americas, or Moody Amphitheatre at Waterloo Greenway and certain other private venues with pre-existing permits as they are not subject to the city's special events ordinance.