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Franklin Barbecue will temporarily shut its doors after an employee tested positive for COVID-19, the restaurant announced on Instagram.
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Tesla has filed plans to build a 30,000-square-foot showroom and vehicle service center at The Yard, a creative business center in south Austin.
<p>The space, located at 500 E. St. Elmo Road, is currently home to Music Lab, one of Austin's most beloved recording studios which had already downsized once by closing its popular West Oltorf location in 2019. It is unclear if the recording studio is relocating or shutting down completely.</p><div class="rm-embed embed-media"><iframe allowfullscreen="" aria-hidden="false" frameborder="0" height="450" src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d3447.76096245339!2d-97.76380758489368!3d30.21536918182052!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x8644b49844a28147%3A0x16c545a37d3361e2!2s500%20E%20St%20Elmo%20Rd%2C%20Austin%2C%20TX%2078745!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1610725077106!5m2!1sen!2sus" style="border:0;" tabindex="0" width="600"></iframe></div><p>Tesla's filings project construction to begin by this June, and will take an estimated three months and $2.5 million to complete. This will be the third showroom in Austin. The existing locations are located off of Research Boulevard in northwest Austin and in the Domain—this will be the first showroom in South Austin.<br/></p><p>The new location will be closer to the newest Tesla gigafactory in Southeast Travis County. It was less than a year ago that Elon Musk announced the automotive company would be building its next gigafactory in the Austin area. The factory will facilitate building the new Cyber Truck, Model Y and batteries for the cars. It is projected to begin operations this year.</p>
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(Emma Freer)
More than 120 COVID-19 patients have received the monoclonal antibodies treatment, Regeneron, at the Austin Regional Infusion Center in Montopolis since it opened on Jan. 6.
This comes as good news to John Doucette, a 52-year-old realtor who, for the last six months, has participated in a Regeneron clinical trial conducted by the Austin-based company Benchmark Research.
<p>Each month, Doucette receives a series of Regeneron shots. The goal is that they will help him build immunity to COVID-19, in case he is exposed to it. Because of his job, this is something that he worries about. "My biggest concern is probably contractors, who are working on new construction," he said, "and generally aren't wearing masks." </p><p>Doucette doesn't yet know if he received the treatment, but he feels good about his chances—only 25% of the trial participants received a placebo. He also feels good about the drug itself. Since he enrolled, Regeneron has been used to <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/21/covid-treatment-fda-authorizes-regeneron-drug-used-by-trump.html" target="_blank">treat President Donald Trump</a>, who contracted COVID in October, and received an emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.</p><p>"From that standpoint, I'm excited that I did the trial," he told Austonia. "Knowing that it's actually effective." </p><p><strong>Force shield</strong> </p><p>So how do monoclonal antibodies work?</p><p>"If you have a viral infection, you have two potentially effective interventions," said Dr. Mezgebe Berhe, an infectious disease specialist and the principal investigator for a Regeneron trial conducted by Baylor Scott & White Research Institute. </p><p>A vaccine prevents the virus from developing while antiviral medication—such as monoclonal antibodies—helps to neutralize it in patients who have already become ill. </p><p>The Dallas-based BSW Research Institute was the first in the country to enroll a patient in a Regeneron trial, which it did on June 11. Although the trial is ongoing, preliminary data suggests that, if administered to patients in the first few days they are symptomatic, Regeneron reduced the chance of hospitalization and other complications by up to 75%. This, Berhe said, is a best-case scenario.</p><p>Monoclonal antibody treatments offer other benefits.<br/></p><p>For one, Regeneron and a similar medication developed by the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly are synthetic, meaning they are produced in a lab. This makes them easier to come by—and keep in stock—than <a href="https://austonia.com/we-are-blood-convalescent-plasma" target="_blank">convalescent plasma</a>, another antibody treatment used for COVID patients. But unlike monoclonal antibody treatments, convalescent plasma relies on blood donations from recovered COVID patients. "Convalescent plasma is labor intensive," Berhe said.</p><p>Regeneron may also have other applications. The Benchmark trial in which Doucette participated is studying whether monoclonal antibodies help confer immunity to patients who have not yet contracted COVID. </p><p>This could be a critical alternative to vaccination. "There are always people who don't raise a good immune response to vaccines," said Dr. Cynthia Brinson, the principal investigator for Benchmark's Regeneron trial.</p><p><strong>Seeking treatment</strong></p><p>With these early trial results, and a green light from the FDA, monoclonal antibody treatments arrived in Texas amid a worsening surge, which threatens to overwhelm hospitals, and <a href="https://austonia.com/austin-vaccine-rollout" target="_blank">a bumpy vaccine rollout</a>. State and local officials say it is an important tool to help reduce hospitalizations, especially as ICUs across the Austin metro <a href="https://austonia.com/austin-covid-field-hospital" target="_blank">near capacity</a>. </p><p>Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced the opening of the Montopolis infusion center—a pop-up outside of a CommUnity Care clinic—earlier this month. Like other centers around the state, it was established in partnership with various state and local agencies. Area hospital systems have donated Regeneron supplies to ensure steady—and free—treatment remains available.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="cca31ffc525a2e20bcaee21f650f625d" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="d30d6" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTQ1NTI0Ny9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NTg5Nzc2Nn0.2Z39IruG9ssGUroCiyoM6z-vNAICjhOIVERilHzo-Lk/img.jpg?width=980"/>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Austin City Council Member Vanessa Fuentes, who represents District 2 in Southeast Austin, and Travis County Judge Andy Brown tour the Austin Region Infusion Center on Wednesday.</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">(Emma Freer)</small></p><p>One week into its operations, the center is treating around 26 COVID patients each day. Paitents must be referred by area physicians or contacted by Austin Public Health and CommUnity Care after receiving a positive test result at one of their sites. The once-time treatment takes about an hour, plus a 30-minute check-in process and an hour of monitoring after. <br/></p><p>Although the center is ramping up its capacity, with a goal of treating 75 patients each day, demand will likely continue to outpace supply. "With uncontrolled spread throughout the community, we expect to keep seeing high demand," EMS System Deputy Medical Director Dr. Jason Pickett said Wednesday. </p><p>Many area hospitals and private infusion centers are also offering monoclonal antibody treatments to COVID patients. The National Infusion Center, an Austin-based trade association, has created a locator tool, which shows 20 such sites within a 30-mile radius. But CEO Brian Nyquist cautions that many may be operating at or near capacity, given the current surge and their pre-existing, non-COVID clientele.</p><p>There are also limitations of who qualifies for monoclonal antibody treatments. Because the drug remains under an emergency use authorization, it is administered only to priority patients, including those populations at highest risk of being hospitalized with—or dying from—COVID. They include the elderly, communities of color and those without insurance. </p><p>Regeneron has been shown to be most effective in the few days after COVID symptoms present themselves, so it is imperative that patients seek out medical care before the window closes. Many patients may wait to see if their symptoms worsen before seeking out testing or medical treatment, but this could preclude them from being a candidate for Regeneron and similar treatments. "If you belong to a high-risk category, don't waste time," Berhe said.</p>
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