Officials from Austin Public Health, CommUnityCare and Central Health announced Sept. 2 they will distribute free personal protective equipment in areas with high rates of COVID-19 in an effort to prevent transmission as students return to school.
“We’re here today to encourage everybody to protect yourself and protect your family,” Central Health President and CEO Mike Geeslin said at a Sept. 2 event announcing the six-week distribution campaign. “It is absolutely important that we work together in these next coming weeks as we approach the next phase of this pandemic.”
That next phase involves many children and educators returning to classrooms this month. Although this return comes at a time when Travis County’s coronavirus risk has recently been downgraded from Stage 4 to Stage 3 as case counts and hospitalizations ease up, Dr. Mark Escott, the Austin-Travis County interim health authority, emphasized the importance of remaining vigilant to the virus.
“We have to continue the practices which got us here: the masking, the social distancing, the personal hygiene, the washing of hands, the avoidance of touching our faces, and most importantly, staying home when sick,” Escott said. “We're going to have to continue those efforts until we have a vaccine which is widely available to our community, which is at least six to nine months away by most estimations.”
