AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – Health officials in the Texas state capital are urging people to avoid holiday gatherings, as hospitalizations of COVID-19 patients soar heading into the Christmas weekend.
According to Dr. Mark Escott, the interim Austin-Travis County Health Authority, the rate of transmission is so high in Austin that people should consider themselves at risk anywhere they go in the city.
Escott says that since Dec 1, there has been a 97% increase in positive COVID-19 cases in the region and an 80% increase in the seven-day average number of people hospitalized with the coronavirus. Escott calls it a “critical moment for the community.”
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