This week, certain businesses such as restaurants, gyms and retailers were able to open to a 75% capacity from a 50% capacity. Additionally, nursing homes and other similar facilities were able to open to visitations, with some exceptions still in place. Those updated Orders from Governor Abbott were announced last week. Click here for that information. There have been no additional updates to those statewide Orders this week.

The number of new cases has remained relatively steadily (with a slight uptick in the Lake Travis area in the past week). The number of hospitalizations has also remained about steady after several weeks of declining numbers. There are 86 individuals hospitalized in our region with COVID-19, down from 87 reported last week. However, the number of daily hospitalizations on a seven-day average in our five-county area rose slightly to about 16 average daily hospitalizations, up from close to 13 last week. Click here for more details on hospitalizations.

There have now been a total of 28,904 cumulative COVID-19 cases reported in Travis County. That number is up by 692 compared to this same time last week, 788 the week before that, and 698 the week before that one. It's estimated there are 739 active COVID-19 positive cases in the county according to the state dashboard, which is up slightly from 711 reported last week. For the three zip codes associated with Lakeway (78734, 78738, 78669), there have been 576 cases identified to date, which is up by 26 compared to the same time last week, and up by 18 comparing with the week before that. Click here for more details and to view the tracking tool, which includes an interactive map to see cases by your zip code.

Travis County continues with Stage 3 guidelines, including keeping gatherings to no more than 10 individuals and wearing a face covering in public. Also, please continue to social/physical distance between individuals not in your household, and wash your hand regularly. Thank you for continuing to follow these guidelines during this difficult and unusual time.

City Council held a budget and tax public hearing this past Monday and decided to move forward with a No New Revenue (NNR) tax rate, which is the rate that would generate the same amount of tax for the city if applied to the same properties this year, compared to last. That rate is now at .1653 per $100 home valuation, lower than the .1694 (or 3.5% not-to-exceed) proposed rate initially approved by City Council in August. City Manager Julie Oakley was able to calculate additional FY 2020 budget savings, and additional sales tax revenue, along with additional cuts to the FY 2021 expenditures to reach that level. Click here for more details. City Council will vote to approve both the budget and tax rate on Monday. The meeting Monday will be through video conference. If you're interested in participating in that meeting, information will be posted on the agenda on how to comment. Click here to connect to the agenda center. Click here to connect to the video center, where the meeting will be live streamed and accessible to watch after.

Lakeway Police Department is urging residents to be cautious after reports of several auto burglaries this week. Early yesterday morning (September 24, 2020), several vehicles were reported stolen in several locations throughout the city. If you happen to notice any unusual activity in your neighborhood between the hours of 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. on Thursday, September 24 (or notice any unusual activity on a home security camera), we ask you to please contact Sgt. Jason Brown at [email protected] or by phone at (512) 261-2881.

These criminal incidents involving vehicles are crimes of opportunity, meaning that few of the thefts reported involved forcible entry into the vehicle. Most of the auto theft cases were the result of unlocked doors. In some cases, the keys to the cars were also left in the unlocked vehicle. Please be sure to follow the following tips:

Please click here for more information, including a list of the neighborhoods affected.