Public Strongly Encouraged to Take Advantage of the Free Public Enrollment Testing Form at the COVID-19 Website
Mayor Steve Adler announced an extension of Austin’s current Stay Home, Work Safe Order. The order extension goes into effect at 11:59 p.m. on Saturday, May 30 and extends until June 15, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. (which coincides with the expiration of the current Travis County, nearly parallel order).
This order extension continues most all the provisions from the prior City order, including the mandates to stay at home except as specifically allowed, avoid gatherings, observe social distancing and wear face coverings. Changes conform the City’s extended order to the new re-openings allowed by the Governor’s statewide orders and to other new provisions with which the prior City order may have been in conflict.
No gatherings of more than 10 persons are allowed in line with the City’s current Risk-Based Guidelines. City deadlines are generally suspended to times certain. State set taxes and assessments are due and penalties and interest will now accrue.
The extended City order is consistent with the Governor’s statewide order which maintains and continues the requirement that everyone “shall minimize social gatherings and in-person contact not in the same household” except as specifically allowed. The City’s order recognizes the growing list of exceptions allowed by the statewide order.
The City order conforms to the Governor’s prohibition of local enforcement of mitigation behaviors, recognized as furthering public health, with confinement and the specific prohibition against any local civil or criminal penalty for the failure to wear a face covering.
“With this extended Order, the City is doing everything the law allows to keep our community as safe as possible, to give the Governor’s reopening of the economy the greatest chance of succeeding and being sustained and to retain for our community the ability we each have as individuals to make choices that seek to prevent our hospitals from being overwhelmed,” said Mayor Steve Adler.
Under the latest Statewide executive order which initiated greater social and business interactions, certain non-essential businesses and services may reopen including bars, rodeos, in-store retail, dine-in restaurant services, movie theaters, museums, libraries, shopping malls, golf courses, wedding venues, salons and barber shops, tanning salons, pools, gyms and more. Some are limited to certain occupancy levels. It remains unclear whether resulting new interactions will lead to a spike that would overwhelm hospitals. Local Public Health officials will continue to monitor multiple indicators, including but not limited to infections and hospitalizations. It will take data from over the next three to four weeks to assess changes in policies enacted over the last couple weeks.
The latest statewide order remains in effect through June 3, 2020 and is subject to extension based on the status of COVID-19 in Texas. The State says its order may also be extended based on recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the White House Coronavirus Task Force.
Austin Public Health continues to remind our community of the importance of practicing good hygiene, physical and social distancing, and wearing face coverings to help keep each other safe.
Public Enrollment Testing Information
The public is encouraged to fill out the Public Enrollment Testing Form at www.austintexas.gov/COVID19 to see if they're eligible for a free COVID-19 test. To learn more about how to take the self-assessment watch this
