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Austin and Travis Counties escalated on August 5 with new mask recommendations for vaccinated and unvaccinated diners in Phase 5 of their risk-based guidelines for coronavirus.
The new policy recommends that vaccinated individuals wear masks when eating indoors, at indoor and outdoor events, traveling, and shopping. In addition, vaccinated high-risk individuals are encouraged to wear a mask when eating outdoors and to refrain from eating indoors and other indoor gatherings.
For unvaccinated and partially vaccinated people, it is recommended to avoid eating any kind of indoor or outdoor food and to stick to take-away or to the roadside and shopping.
The new policy also encourages guests to go to restaurants and bars that require masks and proof of vaccination, especially for indoor dining. During the announcement press conference, Dr. Desmar Walkes, the Austin-Travis county health agency, said companies – including restaurants – could decide whether to require their customers to provide proof of vaccination. “We urge our patrons and customers to get vaccinated,” she said, “and companies can make a business decision to require their patrons and members to be vaccinated, and we would support those who do.”
When asked by Eater whether this is legal under Texas state orders, a city media contact said, “We would advise restaurants to consult their own lawyers to see if they can, but we know they can Municipalities are not allowed to do this by order of the governor. “
Evidence of vaccinations has become a requirement in other cities, such as New York, where later this month all diners will have to prove they are vaccinated to dine indoors.
In general, Dr. Walkes that businesses and restaurants should use contactless and curb service whenever possible. She also admitted that the Austin business community has been through a lot over the past year, but those requests are for the safety of the city.
“We know there has been struggle in many companies and we know that many of these companies are just getting back on their feet and we want to keep our business world open and thriving,” she said at the press conference.
When asked if vaccinated Austinites should dine indoors, Dr. Walkes that they should assess the situation, including “whether or not the facility is using best practices for COVID containment with distancing and availability of hand sanitizer, whether or not staff wear masks, whether or not the facilities may inquire about vaccination status.” She added that the least risky situation would be to dine in a well-ventilated outdoor area while wearing a mask.
The county’s “step” scores are based on the seven-day moving average (also known as the daily average for the past week) of hospital admissions, ICU patients, and patients on ventilators. The city entered stages 3 and then 4 in mid-July; the last time Austin was in phase 5 was in late December 2020.
On August 5, the “seven-day moving average” numbers showed 78 new hospital admissions, 430 new cases, and 3,412 active cases. On August 5, there were also 483 hospital admissions, 167 intensive care patients and 103 on ventilators. Travis County’s positivity rate is 14.5 percent; Nationwide it is 11.50 percent.
Those numbers represent a sharp increase: The Travis County’s seven-day moving average rose over 600 percent from 9 on July 4th to 67 on August 4th. This increase is due to the extremely contagious Delta variant, which mainly affects the unvaccinated and can lead to hospitalizations, long-term health problems and death. This does not mean that people who have been vaccinated are not susceptible to contracting the virus (they can still get it), but such so-called “breakthrough” cases are usually less severe. 73.67 percent of the eligible population of Travis County were partially or fully vaccinated, compared to 62.58 percent of the eligible population of Texas.
Despite the rapid rise in COVID-related cases and deaths due to lower vaccination rates, Texas Governor Greg Abbott reiterated his stance on July 29 not to enact virus-related requirements through a new executive order. The order bluntly states that there are no COVID security measures in place for Texan businesses – including restaurants. People in Texas regions with high positivity rates are only “encouraged” to social distance and to wear masks, but are not required to do so. Government agencies and companies that receive government funding and credit cannot request vaccinations or proof of vaccination, and there is a fine of up to $ 1,000 for any agency that does not obey this order.
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