This past Wednesday, the new State Order took effect, which lifts the mask mandate and allows businesses to open to a 100% capacity. Masks are still strongly encouraged when around others not in your household, along with other COVID-19 safety practices that were in place for the last several months. Governor Greg Abbott also indicated that businesses may still limit capacity or implement additional safety measures as they see fit.

Also, the Texas Department of State Health Services announced a few days ago that the next group eligible to receive vaccines will be those between the ages of 50 and 64 as part of Group Phase 1C. The new group will be eligible to receive the vaccine starting on Monday (March 15). More than half of all Texas seniors have received at least one dose of the vaccine according to the State, and 30% are now fully vaccinated. Click here to connect to vaccine resources, including the link to pre-register for a vaccine with Austin Public Health.

A total of 77,231 cases have been reported to date in Travis County, with 1,250 active cases at this time (down from 1,724 last week) and 221 individuals hospitalized in the region (down from 257 last week). A total of 92,968 individuals have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine through Austin Public Health, which is the main hub in Travis County. Click here to review the COVID-19 case dashboard, which includes an interactive map to see cases by your zip code. Click here for more details on hospitalizations. Click here for details on vaccine distributions.

Travis County remains in Stage 4 of the risk-based guidelines. Whether you have or have not received a vaccine, it's still strongly encouraged to continue to social/physical distance between individuals not in your household, wear a proper face covering, and wash your hands regularly. Thank you for continuing to follow these guidelines.

The Lakeway Police Department released the 2020 year in review data regarding activity last year, and found that the top calls for service were those involving suspicious circumstances and animal-related calls. There were about 5,500 calls received for all of the top 10 calls for service in 2020. Last year, there were a total of 234 collisions reported to the Lakeway Police Department. There were also a total of 238 arrests. There were more than 1,000 citations issued, with citations related to speeding more than 10% above the speed limit being the highest reported number of citations, followed by expired motor vehicle registration. Click here for more details.

The Easter holiday is quickly approaching, and the City of Lakeway's Parks & Recreation Department has an egg-citing event planned this year! Wednesday, March 24 will be the last day to register for the 2020 Cottontail EGGspress Delivery. The special Easter basket deliveries by the Lakeway Easter Bunny will take place Friday, March 26 and Saturday, March 27 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. directly to those registered homes. The goodie bags are $10 per child and will include more than a dozen filled plastic eggs, craft projects, stickers, a coloring book and more. There will also be a virtual Craft-ernoon event set up for Sunday, March 28 at 2 p.m. over Zoom. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our annual Eggstravaganza! event was not able to take place this year. We hope you will enjoy this new COVID-19 safe and socially distanced event in its place for this year. Click here for more information, including registration information.