COVID-19 News

Austin likely to hit another grim COVID-19 milestone today, says health authority

Dell Seton Medical Center at the University of Texas at Austin hospital

Austin's top doc says Austin is likely to break hospital admission records today, another grim milestone in the pandemic.

Photo courtesy of Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin

KVUE — In his weekly briefing with the Travis County Commissioners Court on Tuesday, Dr. Mark Escott with Austin Public Health said he expects the Austin area is likely to exceed its 200 ICU hospital bed capacity before January 15.

Dr. Escott said now is the time the area is seeing the effects of people gathering around Christmas, with even more expected to be felt from the New Year's holiday in coming days.

As a result, he said the area has seen steep and aggressive increases in ICU admissions and ventilator use.

On Monday, Dr. Escott said 522 new hospitalizations were reported for the Austin MSA, marking a 145 percent increase in the moving average since December 4 and setting a new record since the beginning of the pandemic. The moving average is now at 459.

The doctor said 156 ICU admissions were reported Monday, marking a 105 percent increase since December 4. The moving average is now at 142.

He also said 84 new hospital admissions were reported Monday, marking a 140 percent increase since Dec. 4. The moving average is now at 77.

“The data that we have so far for today indicates that we will likely break a new record today, and I expect that we will make many new records over the coming two weeks in terms of new admissions to the hospital, unfortunately,” he said.

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To read the full story, head to KVUE News.

health

holiday budgeting news

This is how much Austinites are budgeting for holiday gifts in 2025

Holiday gifts 2025, Christmas presents, gift giving

Photo by Samantha Gades on Unsplash

Austinites are expected to spend nearly $1,800 on their holiday gifts this year, the report found.

Residents living in Austin's well-to-do suburbs Cedar Park and Round Rock aren't stressing about stretching their holiday spending this year, according to a new report from WalletHub.

Cedar Park gift givers are expected to spend a whopping $3,028 on their festive presents, says WalletHub's 2025 "Holiday Budgets by City" report. Cedar Park ranked No. 31 in the report's list of U.S. cities with the largest holiday budgets.

To determine the U.S. cities with the biggest holiday budgets, WalletHub's experts compared 558 cities across five categories: Income, age, a debt-to-income ratio, residents' monthly income-to-monthly expenses ratio, and their savings-to-monthly expenses ratio.

According to the study's methodology, a consumer is considered to be in a "comfortable financial position to engage in holiday spending if they have: 1) enough emergency savings to cover at least six months of expenses and 2) a debt-to-income ratio smaller than 22 percent for a renter or 43 percent for a homeowner."

Cedar Park's current holiday budget is just $98 higher than it was in 2024, and it's also much higher than the $2,354 projected budget from the 2023 report.

Residents living in Cedar Park's festive neighbor Round Rock are expected to spend $2,641 on their holiday gifts this year, or $103 more than last year. According to WalletHub's ranking, this North Austin suburb has the 47th largest holiday budget nationwide in 2025.

Compared to its wealthy neighbors, Austin residents are expected to rein in their spending when compared to last year, the report revealed. Austin proper ranked 130th on the list with a $1,786 projected holiday budget this year, or $119 less than last year's budget.

Regardless of the dollar amount, Austinites should pay attention to their spending and pick a budget that works for their financial situation, experts say. The National Retail Federation expects holiday sales to surpass $1 trillion this year, and the report warns credit card debt is a major challenge faced by many Americans as they plan their holiday shopping sprees.

"The holidays bring plenty of joy, but they can also spark seasonal stress, much of it tied to overspending," the report's author wrote. "In Q3 2025, the average household carried $10,227 in credit card debt, up 2.3 percent from the year before, according to WalletHub data. Adding holiday shopping on top of that can quickly increase the financial strain, especially if balances roll into the new year."

The three U.S. cities that boast the loftiest holiday budgets are Palo Alto, California (No. 1); Mountain View, California (No. 2); and Newton, Massachusetts (No. 3). Palo Alto residents are expected to spend nearly $4,500 on their Christmas gifts this year, with the latter cities budgeting for $4,266 and $4,069, respectively.

Other Texas cities that ranked among the top 100 biggest holiday spenders include:

No. 4 – Flower Mound ($3,941)
No. 12 – Frisco ($3,491)
No. 19 – Pearland ($3,277)
No. 20 – The Woodlands ($3,265)
No. 22 – Sugar Land ($3,191)
No. 28 – Allen ($3,055)
No. 34 – League City ($2,997)
No. 40 – Plano ($2,812)
No. 55 – McKinney ($2,502)
No. 56 – Carrollton ($2,498)
No. 82 – Richardson ($2,146)
No. 96 – North Richland Hills ($1,985)

holiday budgets holidays christmas wallethub austin suburbs round rock cedar park