AUSTIN, Texas — Public health officials announced Tuesday that Austin-Travis County will move down to Stage 3 of the area's COVID-19 risk-based guidelines.
The latest shift comes less than two weeks after the area moved from Stage 5 to Stage 4. Austin-Travis County moved back to Stage 4 on Feb. 24. At the time, health experts said they were cautiously optimistic about the area's COVID-19 outlook.
Despite the move down to Stage 3, Austin Public Health officials are still "strongly" recommending indoor mask use through the end of the "festival season." The 2022 South by Southwest festival is scheduled for Friday, March 11, through Sunday, March 20.
In a statement from a SXSW Spokesperson, it was mentioned after consideration and discussion with Austin Public Health, SXSW has decided to keep the existing guidelines in place for SXSW EDU and SXSW, which include adherence to our Health Pledge, proof of vaccination, or negative testing in lieu of vaccination, to pick up and maintain credentials, and mandatory masking in all conference rooms and exhibitions, and other indoor locations where required by the venue.
"We look forward to welcoming everyone to the first in person SXSW in three years, and we will continue to work closely with Austin Public Health and the City of Austin to plan for a safe event," stated a SXSW spokesperson.
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Since the peak in January, COVID-19 metrics have continued to decline. Officials track the seven-day average of hospital admissions, community transmission rate and positivity rate to determine the COVID-19 risk-based guidelines. As of Feb. 28, the seven-day moving average of new hospital admissions was 20, the community transmission rate was 61.3 and the positivity rate was 6.8%.
For a look at the City's key staging indicators in real-time, click here.
What is different in Stage 3?
In Stage 3, APH officials recommend that residents participate in indoor private gatherings with precautions and say they may participate in outdoor gatherings without precautions. High-risk individuals may dine with precautions, while low-risk individuals may dine without precautions. Shopping may be done without precautions, while travel may be done with precautions.
Again, despite the above recommendations, APH officials are still strongly recommending masking for now.
Britny Eubank on social media: Twitter
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