AUSTIN, Texas — Editor's note: This blog is no longer being updated. Click here for Tuesday's blog.
KVUE is keeping you updated with the latest coronavirus and COVID-19 news in the Austin area.
Scroll down for the top headlines and latest updates in KVUE's Aug. 16 live blog.
COVID-19 numbers:
- Texas: More than 2.8 million cases have been reported in the state, and more than 53,000 people in Texas have died, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.
- Central Texas counties:
- Austin-Travis County: The seven-day moving average of new admissions is 76, and an average of 592 people are hospitalized. The seven-day moving average for new cases is 458. Since the beginning of the pandemic, over 96,009 cases have been reported and at least 919 people have died.
- Hays County: There are currently 2,182 active cases and 67 people are currently hospitalized (58 unvaccinated, nine vaccinated). Since the beginning of the pandemic, at least 23,123 confirmed cases have been reported and at least 292 people have died. At least 20,649 people have recovered from the virus.
- Williamson County: There are 207 new cases, and 12% of hospital beds are available and 2% of ICU beds are available. Since the beginning of the pandemic, at least 47,939 cases have been reported in the county and at least 507 people have died.
For a look at COVID-19 data across all of the state's counties, click here.
GRAPHS: Coronavirus data Aug. 16, 2021
Updates:
5:15 p.m. – Hays County reported three COVID-19 deaths on Monday, a Kyle man in his 50s, a San Marcos man in his 90s and a San Marcos woman in her 60s. Officials also reported 434 new confirmed cases along with 31 new hospitalizations and 13 new hospital discharges. There are 468 additional people considered recovered.
5:10 p.m. – Travis County reported seven more COVID-19 deaths along with 955 new confirmed cases on Monday, bringing the total to 96,009 cases and 919 deaths since the start of the pandemic. At least 92,507 people have recovered from the virus.
Travis County currently has 589 people hospitalized with COVID-19, with 213 in the ICU and 134 on ventilators.
4:55 p.m. – The Texas Department of State Health Services is offering grants of $50,000to $150,000 to Texas community-based organizations to help their communities' COVID-19 vaccination efforts. Around $10 million in grants to local organizations will be awarded.
3:40 p.m. – The U.S. Conference of Mayors, which was supposed to take place in Austin at the end of this month, will no longer be taking place in person.
"The event had been scheduled for later this month in Austin, Texas, but the COVID-19 delta variant and the public health situation in Texas and across the country will not allow the meeting to move forward," the conference said in a release.
Austin Mayor Steve Adler said he was saddened he "will not be able to show off the great city of Austin."
"The most important thing we can all do at this moment is make the right individual decisions to keep our communities safe, and this is the necessary one for this event in Austin," Alder said. "We face a real public health crisis here right now, but the spirit of Austin is strong and with everyone working together we can defeat this virus and keep our economy moving."
3:10 p.m. – Texas is at an average of 11,738 new COVID-19 cases per day over the past week, the highest since Feb. 7, up 15% from a week ago and up 454% from a month ago. Texas reported nine new COVID-19 deaths on Monday, bringing the total to 53,100 deaths since the start of the pandemic. There are 11,791 COVID-19 patients currently in Texas hospitals statewide, the most since Jan. 28, up 25% from a week ago and up 316% from a month ago.
The Austin metro area is at an average of 888 new COVID-19 per day over the past week, down 3% from a week ago and up 284% from a month ago. There are 665 COVID-19 patients in Austin-area (TSA O) hospitals, with 229 COVID-19 patients in area ICUs, making up 47% of total ICU capacity. There are nine staffed ICU beds available, up from one on Sunday. Daily COVID-19 hospital admissions are at an average of 76 per day over the past week, down from 83 per day a week ago. Ventilator use is at an all-time high, with 134 COVID-19 patients on ventilators in Travis County.
Texas is holding steady at around 54% of the 12+ population fully vaccinated.
1:40 p.m. – The Austin area hit a pandemic low of one ICU bed available for all 11 counties in the trauma service area.
11:30 a.m. – It's the first day of early "Mooov-In" on the University of Texas campus. This year, all students coming to campus to move into residence halls need to test negative within 72 hours of arriving. Masks are optional inside campus buildings for both vaccinated and unvaccinated people.
6 a.m. – Austin ISD says masks will still be required at its schools and facilities regardless of the latest Texas Supreme Court ruling upholding Gov. Greg Abbott's executive order banning mask mandates in public schools. The school year starts for AISD on Tuesday.
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