Austin sees dramatic rise in COVID-19 cases since economy started reopening

AUSTIN, Texas — A record number of new cases last week has Austin health officials on high alert.

During the week of May 25th, Dr. Mark Escott with Austin Public Health says the area saw 425 new cases – the most new cases of COVID-19 that health officials have seen in a single week, since the pandemic began.

He called this an alarming trend, as Austin continues its attempt to get back to business as usual.

Escott says there's room for people in hospitals right now, but there's a possibility that may not always be the case.

RELATED: City to increase COVID-19 testing access to Austin's minority communities, nursing homes

Since reopening the economy, health officials have noticed an increase in hospitalizations, which they say will likely translate to an uptick in patients in the ICU and on ventilators.

Escott is calling on the community to take control of their actions before things get worse.

"It's up to our community to make sure that we keep a lid on disease transmission," said Escott. "We can tolerate some uptick in hospitalizations, but we are very careful to watch the risk of exponential increase in our community, which may indicate a trend towards overwhelming our healthcare system."

The city says its goal is to keep its average number of new hospitalizations under 20, over a seven-day period. Currently, the average stands at about 10 new hospitalizations over a seven-day period.