With 74.8 new hospitalizations per day over past week, Travis County could move into coronavirus risk Stage 5

Austin Public Health reported 73 new coronavirus hospitalizations July 7, and the Austin metropolitan area has seen an average of 74.8 new hospitalizations per day over the past seven days.

According to risk-based guidelines updated by APH on June 26, the county may move into risk Stage 5 because average hospitalizations have exceeded 70 per day. According to the current guidelines, Stage 5 is not triggered by an exact number but could be triggered anywhere above 70 hospitalizations per day depending on the recent rate of the increase.

Under Stage 5, APH could suggest only essential businesses remain open, and gathering restrictions would be recommended for any social gatherings outside of a household, according to the most recent APH guidelines.

Earlier in the day at a Travis County Commissioners Court meeting, Dr. Mark Escott, the Austin-Travis County interim health authority, said APH staff is evaluating the new admission numbers to determine if they are accurate and if recent numbers trigger Stage 5.

“The numbers that were reported from the hospitals were reflected the admissions for that day, but what we subsequently found out is that there were additional people who were already admitted to the hospital who were then determined to be COVID-[19] positive, and they weren’t being added to that daily admission number, so it wasn’t balancing out when you look at the number of new patients hospitalized as compared to the difference between the admissions and discharges for that day,” he said.

There were 484 new confirmed coronavirus cases in Travis County on July 7, with seven additional deaths. Overall, there have been 12,408 confirmed cases in the county, 151 deaths and 9,348 estimated recoveries.