'We're in a crisis situation right now': Austin Mayor on how the city is dealing with COVID-19

Austin Mayor Steve Adler joined Yahoo Finance Live to discuss the chaos in D.C. this week and how he is handling Austin's recent spike in COVID-19 cases.

Video Transcript

- Let's bring in another guest who has been here before. Austin Mayor Steve Adler was here last time, talking about how you successfully lured big tech to Austin. We want an update on that.

But I got to ask you. The headlines were saying, after what happened Wednesday in Washington, government officials-- people who devote their lives to public service-- are being threatened by mobs.

And I'm just curious. How do you ensure security for your staff, say, in Austin. But you also got the state house in Texas there. What's the picture like?

STEVE ADLER: Well, I think the pictures we all saw were pretty scary, and how rapidly that condition and situation developed the way that it did. You know, there's obviously got to be the review of what happened there. But it was a pretty significant collapse and failure.

I think the important thing is to be prepared and to not minimize potential risks, to recognize that things can accelerate quickly, and to take seriously the fact that we're in a strange period of time right now, where emotions are running real high. And with the inauguration that's coming up, with the messaging that was coming out of the White House and coming from other elected officials with what we see on social media and the trafficking, this is a time for everyone to be prepared and on alert.

- And Mayor, I'm curious. Because it is very important for people to be prepared and to be on alert. But I'm curious just what the scene was like in Austin-- in Texas-- on Wednesday, or what it's been like over the past couple of days. Have you been able to keep the crowds or the number of protesters under control?

STEVE ADLER: We have here. And certainly, Austin is the capital of the state of Texas. It was one of the anticipated points for folks to rally.

We probably had about several hundred people that gathered out in front of the state Capitol. Our state Capitol, Department of Public Safety, had closed down the Capitol grounds. So you couldn't get anywhere near as close to the Texas State Capitol as people did to the US Capitol in Washington. They were kept at a distance.

It was a peaceful demonstration. And we're fortunate and appreciate that. And I hope that if we have more of those that we have the same kind of experience. And we'll just stay prepared certainly through the inauguration.

- Later this spring, there is South by Southwest. I believe one of the statistics I saw that your city actually gets a something like $350 million economic boost from all of the big tech that attends. Do you know, given where we are in the pandemic, what it will look like this year? And is it going to cut into that kind of boost your city gets?

STEVE ADLER: I think everybody's expectation was that, while we hope the vaccine is well on its way in March when went South by is traditionally held, that we would not be ready, nor would any city in the country be ready, to do the kind of event that South by Southwest is in person. So we have a lot of people now that are going to participate. I'll participate in South by. But it's got to be a more virtual event this year in the spring.

And it should still be wonderful. But it'll certainly be different. I am anxious for the day when we can get everybody together again, not only for the South by events, but for the music and people gathering in this city the way that we used to. I'm encouraged with the vaccine that's going out now. But it won't be ready in March.

- Well, Mayor, I want to ask you a little bit more about the pandemic and what you're seeing in your city. Because I was reading Dr. Mark Escott. He's with the Austin Public Health.

He was saying that the Austin area could run out of their ICU beds by January 15. That's less than a week or just around a week from right now. How are you addressing this? And are you considering more drastic measures, in order to flatten the curve?

STEVE ADLER: We're in a pretty-- we're in a crisis situation right now in Austin. And we're among the cities that we're able to keep the numbers down low. We have one of the lowest mortality rates in the country.

But I am real concerned with the spike that we're seeing now, a spike that probably began to get initiated over the four day Thanksgiving holiday. But then, with the Christmas bump on top of that, and then with the New Year's Eve bump on top of that, we're seeing unprecedented numbers. So yes, we anticipate that we could be running out of ICU beds. Were about to stand up at our auxiliary facility to provide some relief.

We're making pretty urgent appeals to our community to wear masks whenever they're out of their homes, to limit contact with other folks. We tried to impose greater restrictions in our city. The governor took us to court and stopped us over the New Year's Eve holiday. We're looking at everything that we can do to try to keep people safe and to save lives.

- Mayor Steve Adler of Austin, Texas. Our thanks to you for joining today.

STEVE ADLER: Thank you.