COVID-19 pandemic in Austin, Texas

COVID-19 pandemic in Austin, Texas
Shuttered and closed businesses on Sixth Street on March 21, 2020
Disease	COVID-19
Virus strain	SARS-CoV-2
Location	Austin, Texas
First outbreak	Wuhan, Hubei, China
Arrival date	March 13, 2020 (first confirmed); March 2, 2020 (first confirmed onset of symptoms)[1][2]
Date	March 13, 2020—present
Confirmed cases	56,825 (for Travis County)[3]
Active cases	5,795 (for Travis County)
Recovered	50,457 (estimated)
Deaths	573 (for Travis County)
Government website
www.austintexas.gov/covid19

Austin, Texas, reportedly confirmed its first cases on March 13, 2020, with the related onset of symptoms occurring as early as March 2, 2020. However, the disease may have reached the Austin area earlier. In an unconfirmed case, a 67 year old man in Bastrop, TX, traveled to Clovis, NM on December 21. He was hospitalized in Clovis on December 23, 2019, then transported via ambulance to Lubbock where he was placed on a ventilator. He declined rapidly and died on January 2, 2020. Though there was no testing available at the time, he exhibited classic symptoms of COVID-19. The first fatality associated with the disease was reported on March 27, 2020. As of January 21, 2021^[update], the City of Austin (which reports its data in conjunction with Travis County) has reported over 50,000 cases of COVID-19, with 573 deaths associated with the disease.

The threat of COVID-19 prior to its confirmed arrival in the Austin area led to the issuance of a local disaster declaration on March 6, 2020, and the cancellation of South by Southwest for the first time in its history. Restrictions on gatherings and dining establishments and other mandatory protocols were issued by the municipal government and became more stringent in March 2020 following the first confirmed cases of COVID-19 and the ensuing rise in the disease's prevalence. Austin Public Health (APH) first reported evidence of community spread in the area on March 19, 2020. By the end of March 2020, a stay-at-home order had been issued, along with associated social distancing guidelines and operations changes affecting numerous Austin businesses.

In June–July 2020, the Austin area experienced a large increase in the spread of COVID-19, making it one of the U.S.'s most prominent hotspots for the pandemic. At one point, the Greater Austin metropolitan area had the highest positivity rate for the disease of any metropolitan area in the U.S. While restrictions remained in place in the following months, cases declined after July 2020 before another surge of the disease began towards the end of 2020.