Austin, Texas – Beginning tonight, Jan. 20, the Austin Public Health (APH) COVID-19 surveillance dashboard will have more information on patients currently admitted to the Alternate Care Site (ACS). As part of the daily updates to the dashboard, the number of patients being cared for at the ACS will be displayed. 

The COVID-19 surveillance dashboard can be found on the APH COVID-19 Dashboards page. 

Patients currently admitted to the ACS are also included in the total number hospitalized and the daily number of admissions. Similar to patients admitted to the ICU and those on a ventilator, ACS patients will be a subset of the total population that is hospitalized. Patients arriving at the ACS will be counted as discharged from a hospital, which will have little impact on our daily admission numbers. 

The ACS established at the Austin Convention Center will help alleviate the burden of caring for COVID-19 patients in hospitals across central Texas. This facility was established to take specific COVID-19 patients who need a lower level of care. Patients needing higher-level or intensive care will still be cared for at hospitals. 

Patients entering the ACS will be transferred from hospitals. It is not a walk-up site. 

For more information about COVID-19, visit AustinTexas.gov/COVID19.