Emergency notification system used to warn people of the ‘catastrophic’ Covid-19 situation in Austin, Texas

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“The COVID-19 situation in Austin is dire. Health facilities are open but resources are limited due to an increase in cases,” the message said, according to a screenshot from the mobile alert.

“Everyone should wear a mask and stay home as much as possible. If you haven’t been vaccinated, don’t wait to get one. Go to vaccines.gov to find a vaccine.”

The screenshot showed that the message was sent from 88911, which is the account used to send alerts from the Travis County Emergency Notification System.

The alert comes after the area moved on Thursday to step 5 of its guidelines based on the risk of Covid-19, which is its highest level, due to Covid-19 “infections and hospitalizations continue to increase. ‘increase to pre-vaccine levels,’ the county said in a press release.

“The situation is critical,” Dr Desmar Walkes of the Austin-Travis County Health Authority said in a press release. “Our hospitals are under severe stress and there is little we can do to ease their burden as cases increase. The public must act now and help us deal with a disaster in our community that could have been avoided.”

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Stage 5 indicates that unvaccinated or partially vaccinated people should avoid most activities unless it is essential. People vaccinated at high risk are advised to avoid private gatherings, while people vaccinated at low risk should act with caution, according to the guidelines.

Austin-Travis County recorded an average of 230 cases per 100,000 people over the past week, a 27% increase from the previous week, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. United. According to county data, 510 people are hospitalized with Covid-19 in Austin, including 184 in intensive care and 102 on ventilators.

In Texas, about 54% of residents over the age of 12 are fully vaccinated against Covid-19, according to the CDC, about five percentage points below the US average. Texas does not provide the CDC with county-by-county vaccination data.

The Warn Central Texas system is used to send emergency notifications related to “natural disasters, weather warnings, evacuation advisories, bioterrorism alerts, boil water advisories and missing child reports” from crews. local emergency response.

CNN’s Eric Levenson contributed to this report.

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