COVID-19 watch

Austin moves down to Stage 4 COVID-19 restrictions, officials say

City health officials say key indicators are moving in the right direction.

Photo by David Hensley/Getty Images

Austin health officials moved the city back to Stage 4 of its COVID-19 response guidelines on Tuesday, February 9.

The announcement comes as Austin's hospital admissions keep moving in a downward trend. Austin Interim Health Authority Dr. Mark Escott said that even though they are dropping the area to Stage 4, he was concerned about Super Bowl parties bumping it back to Stage 5.

“Particularly given the presence of a more contagious variant in our community, we would like individuals to continue to take protective actions,” Escott said in a February 9 press release. “We have been successful because of the choices the community has made to be safe and follow the data-driven risk guidelines.”

What changes between Stage 4 and Stage 5?

In Stage 5, everyone is advised to stay home and only leave for essential trips. Businesses are encouraged to do contactless options only.

In Stage 4, high-risk people are recommended to avoid gatherings of more than two people and avoid non-essential travel, dining, and shopping. Low-risk people are recommended to keep social gatherings to groups of less than 10 and also avoid non-essential travel. Businesses are encouraged to operate at 25 to 50 percent capacity in Stage 4.

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Read the full story and watch the video on KVUE.com.

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Self-driving Roller Coaster

More self-driving cars expected to roll out in Austin for 2025

Photo courtesy of Waymo via KVUE

Various brands offering self-driving cars are on-and-off in Austin.

Expect to see more self-driving rideshare vehicles, also known as robotaxis, on Austin roads next year.

Robotaxi company Waymo, which you may have already seen on Austin's roads, is partnering with Uber. At some point next year, customers will be able to use the Uber app to call a self-driving ride.

Austin-based company Avride is in the testing phase and plans to roll out its robotaxis next year.

Currently, Volkswagen ADMT and Amazon's Zoox are in the testing phase in Austin, while Hyundai's Motional is in the mapping phase.

Last year, robotaxi company Cruise paused operations in Austin after the California Department of Motor Vehicles revoked the company's permits to operate driverless vehicles in the state. And last week, General Motors said it would no longer fund the company because of the time and resources needed.

This way of getting around has come with its safety concerns and issues. The city is tracking those concerns. According to the Transportation Department, the problems span from blocking the roads and parking in front of people's homes for weeks with lights beaming through their windows, to actual wrecks.

Since July 2023, robotaxis have been involved in 75 incidents. Only 21 of those incidents happened in 2024. It's important to note that Cruise has not been operating in Austin this year.

Since July 2023, driverless rideshare vehicles have been involved in 22 near collisions, eight collisions and seven instances where driverless taxis ignored directions from the Austin Police Department (APD).

According to the data, at least four of those Austin police incidents happened in recent months. The issues varied from driving through police checkpoints, to malfunctioning and getting stuck at an APD road closure near pedestrians, causing safety concerns.

A Waymo spokesperson said their vehicles have gesture recognition capabilities, which they've been training APD officers on using.

As the report shows, sometimes it does not work and Waymo said it is working to improve that. The spokesperson said that as of just last week, Waymo's First Responder Program has been independently verified by TÜV SÜD, making Waymo the first autonomous vehicle (AV) company to receive third-party validation for our emergency response protocols. They also said the data to date indicates the Waymo Driver is already reducing traffic injuries and fatalities in the places where the company currently operates.

Read the full story and watch the video at KVUE.com.

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