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Austin ISD gets COVID and monkeypox briefing; health officials urge vaccination and masking options
Summary
Austin Public Health and district health staff told trustees COVID remains active locally but at lower community levels; officials also briefed trustees on monkeypox, symptoms, transmission and the limited, targeted vaccine supply and described AISD communications and vaccination clinics for staff and families.
Austin Public Health Director Dr. Desmar Wachs and Austin ISD health leaders briefed the board on local COVID trends, CDC isolation and exposure guidance and the community’s response to a concurrent monkeypox outbreak.
Dr. Wachs said the Central Texas community level for COVID was low at the time of the briefing but cautioned that hospitalizations and pediatric cases were still occurring. She summarized the CDC’s updated August guidance on shortening isolation for symptomatic people from 10 days to five days followed by masking when certain testing criteria are met, and she described exposure guidance that recommends high‑quality masks and a day‑6 test after close contact.
“We’re in community level low,” Dr. Wachs said, noting local hospital census figures and national trends. She urged vaccination as “1 of our number‑one tools” to reduce severe COVID among children and reminded families and staff that masking and ventilation remain effective mitigation steps.
On monkeypox, Dr. Wachs described the virus’s symptoms, routes of transmission and the JYNNEOS vaccine series now deployed in limited supply. She said local cases were concentrated in adults and that no pediatric cases had been reported in Travis County at the time of the presentation. “Anybody can get this virus,” she said, urging people with rashes or constitutional symptoms to seek evaluation and to stay home if infected until lesions have healed.
District health staff described campus communications and resources: principals, assistant principals and nurses received updated COVID and monkeypox guidance; AISD has biosurveillance to monitor symptom clusters; the district partnered with Austin Public Health to host a monkeypox vaccination clinic at a district site and maintain a webpage and registration list for vaccine appointments.
Trustees asked whether parents should be alarmed. Dr. Wachs framed the briefing as situational awareness: “Right now we do not have any pediatric cases,” she said, recommending vigilance and usual precautions without alarm. Trustees asked district staff about on‑campus materials and outreach; the district said it had provided an updated packet to nurses and school leaders and had trained a district epidemiologist to coordinate with Austin Public Health.
Ending: Trustees thanked the health officials and asked staff to continue sharing updated guidance and to track any changes in local case counts or pediatric cases. No changes to district policy were enacted during the briefing.
