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(Oles kanebckuu/Pexels)
Several Reddit users identifying themselves as Austin-area health care workers took to the popular social media platform Thursday and Friday to post observations about dire situations at some facilities treating COVID-19 patients.
<p>They described full ICUs, multiple ventilator patients sharing rooms, deceased patients waiting for space at the hospital morgue, running home at night to study old textbooks to prepare for work every day, conserving PPE, and vital medicines that could go on backorder.</p><p>All of the users were anonymous, and their identities could not be immediately verified. But they spoke in specific terms about the facilities they are working in—and the situations they are seeing at work on the front lines of a pandemic.</p><p>Their stories appeared on a post from late Thursday that drew more than 260 comments, many from people identifying themselves as other health care workers, before it was deleted Friday morning. The comments are still there. The post was first made in response to <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/RationalAnarchy/posts/" target="_blank">user RationalAnarchy's daily COVID-19 updates</a>, the user wrote.</p><p>"For the first time in my career I was scared," wrote the original commenter, who said they are a registered nurse at a local hospital. "Not to be alarmist, just to tell you how serious it is. I'm a pretty chill/laid back person and this translates to my nursing care. I've been in plenty of codes and in many emergency situations, but this is different. I've never seen SO many people so so severely sick and there not being much we can do for them."</p><p>Hospital space has become an issue in Austin, especially in ICUs. Officials are planning to open a field hospital at the Austin Convention Center on July 21, but <a href="https://austonia.com/austin-icu-capacity-covid" target="_self">it will serve low-acuity patients</a>—those who don't need to be in the ICU.</p><p>The three main Austin hospital systems—Ascension Seton, Baylor Scott & White Health and St. David's—said on Thursday that, collectively,<a href="https://austonia.com/austin-icu-capacity-covid" target="_self"> ICU occupancy was at 89%</a>, but it varies by hospital.</p><p>"COVID numbers at our hospital, much like the rest of Central Texas, are higher than what we've seen previously in this year. This certainly is a COVID surge," said Dr. DeVry Anderson, chief medical officer at St. David's South Austin Medical Center." And it's tight. We're managing ICU space day-to-day to make sure we have the space that's needed. When we do not, we're making sure that we transfer within our hospital system or even to other hospital systems when it's appropriate or needed to make sure that the patients get the level of care that is needed."</p><p>All three hospital systems are private organizations that do not release occupancy rates on any schedule. Officials have, in the recent past, expressed <a href="https://www.kxan.com/investigations/where-are-the-hospital-capacity-numbers-kxan-city-county-officials-all-searching-for-data/" target="_blank">frustration with the lack of information</a>.<br/></p><p>Health care staff members at hospitals are generally not allowed to speak publicly about the facilities, but some use social media to communicate concerns anonymously.<br/></p><p>Reddit, Facebook, Twitter and other discussion-based platforms are a popular option for getting details and insights from people on the front lines of the pandemic who cannot speak on the record to the press out of fear of losing their jobs.</p><p><em><em>Additional reporting by Chase Karacostas.</em></em></p>
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(Monterey County)
A former Austin wealth manager facing felony sexual assault charges after a luxury golf trip in California with "two high-profile friends" may enter a plea deal early next week, a prosecutor said Thursday.
<p>A preliminary hearing for <a href="https://austonia.com/public-safety/austin-financial-advisor-pebble-beach-sexual-assault" target="_self">David Walter Osborne</a>, accused of attacking a woman last year in Pebble Beach, was set for Thursday but postponed and rescheduled for Tuesday "for a potential plea," said Monterey County Assistant District Attorney Lana Nassoura, who is prosecuting the case. </p><p>A plea deal would mean Osborne, the victim, investigators and potential witnesses would likely never have to appear before a judge. </p><p>Nassoura declined to elaborate on any plea negotiations. If a plea is not entered on Tuesday, she said, another preliminary hearing will be scheduled at a later date for the judge to decide if there is enough evidence to move to trial. </p><p>Defense attorney Lyn Agre of San Francisco did not respond to requests for comment. </p><p>Osborne faces charges of false imprisonment by violence, attempted forcible rape, assault with intent to commit a felony, and sexual penetration by a foreign object stemming from the May 2019 alleged assault at The Lodge at Pebble Beach.</p><p>Osborne, who has already entered a plea of "not guilty," could change it to "no contest" or "guilty" or a similar plea in exchange for a lighter sentence than he might face if found guilty in front of a judge or jury. </p><p>If that happens and a plea deal is struck, and it is accepted by the judge, the case could wrap up with no public testimony. </p><p>Osborne has been awaiting trial in Texas. Agre told Austonia in May that the charges are "baseless and should be dismissed outright." Last month, she told a judge that she planned to call witnesses from Texas, including a lab expert, for the hearing.</p><p>Thursday's hearing would have been the first public airing of evidence in the case, which has been shrouded in secrecy, protected by California law, since Monterey County authorities filed the charges against Osborne in May 2019.</p>They believe Osborne and his "high-profile" friends flew on a private jet that month and shared rooms at the lodge, an upscale resort nestled outside of San Jose in Northern California.<p><br/>Authorities won't identify the two golf pals, and prosecutors have declined to say if they—or a second woman initially described as a victim but later dropped from the complaint—would be called as witnesses if hearings or a trial move forward.</p><p>Neither prosecutors nor police will discuss details of the case. It is unclear whether the two women referred to in the initial report flew in with Osborne or if he met them while in California.</p><p> Osborne was jailed in Austin on May 21, 2019, after Monterey County Sheriff's deputies flew to Texas to arrest him at his downtown Austin office. He posted bail the next day. He was 48 at the time.</p>
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Pandemic voting: 5 things Austin learned from the July election that will matter in November
20 July
(Charlie L. Harper III)
From high turnout to staffing concerns, from the importance of mail-in voting to safety at the polls, Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir and other observers view last week's rescheduled primary runoff and special election as a tip-of-the-iceberg dry run for a new Election Day normal.
"July definitely taught us some lessons that we are going to really put to use before the November election," said DeBeauvoir.
<p>Here are five things, in no particular order, that election officials and watchdogs say they learned during the most recent election. <br/></p>
1. Turnout will be HIGH
<p>The July 14 election happened under circumstances that should have turned off many voters: triple-digit heat, fear of a contagious virus and a short ballot. It was also in July, which never has elections. But voters were not deterred. Typical primary runoff turnout is about 5%, DeBeauvoir said.</p><p><span style="background-color: initial;">Last</span><span style="background-color: initial;"> Tuesday, turnout topped 21%.</span></p><p>The numbers can be attributed to not only increased interest in current events and politics, but also an expensive get-out-the-vote effort and hotly contested local races that captured the public's interest in policing and criminal justice in the wake of police brutality protests, said Antonio Gutierrez of Common Cause Texas, which tracks elections.</p><p>"Down-ballot races don't usually drive turnout as much as the top of the ticket, but in this case, people had the rare opportunity to weigh in on an open state Senate seat, plus everything happening in the criminal justice realm really put the county [attorney] and district attorney races in the spotlight in a way you don't normally see," Gutierrez said.</p><p>Much of that enthusiasm is expected to translate to November, when the race between President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden is forecast to have record voter engagement.</p><p>That rings true even in red-state Texas, where <a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2020/president/tx/texas_trump_vs_biden-6818.html" target="_blank">some recent polling</a> shows Biden <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2020/07/02/trump-leads-biden-poll/" target="_blank">competitive</a> with the Republican incumbent and where, for the first time in recent history, the presidential election <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2020/07/14/joe-biden-texas-donald-trump-polls-close-tv-ads-2020-elections/" target="_blank">might be a real competition</a>.</p>2. We'll need more poll workers
<p>In the days leading up to the election, some 25 workers<a href="https://austonia.com/travis-county-runoff-election" target="_blank"> backed out</a>, DeBeauvoir said. On Election Day, another six or eight didn't show up.</p><p>The county had several employees on standby to handle last-minute no-shows, and poll hours weren't affected. But they'll be looking to hire more employees to staff the 200 Election Day polling sites and 35 early voting locations for the November contests to avoid empty chairs and shut-down voting sites.</p><p>The average age of a Travis County election worker is somewhere around 70, DeBeauvoir said—a demographic particularly vulnerable to COVID-19—but more young people are getting interested in working the polls.</p><p>Extra staffers this year would be needed to make sure people are social distancing in line and count people coming in the doors so that there aren't too many people inside at once, she said.</p><p>She estimated her office would budget an additional $500,000 for extra staff and personal protection equipment. </p>3. Polling places will be a problem
<p>One big challenge that lies ahead, DeBeauvoir said, is going to be nailing down—and keeping—some 200 polling sites for Nov. 3.</p><p>Last week, there were 100 polling sites open on Election Day for the much smaller runoff, and—like workers—getting and keeping those was a battle, DeBeauvoir said.</p><p>"I'm a little worried about being able to find places in the middle of a pandemic," DeBeauvoir said. "It was difficult to get 100 places to say 'yes' and then stick with 'yes.' Some called back and said, 'No, we changed our mind, we're too frightened.' And I have sympathy for them, but it doesn't help me bring the election to voters."</p><p>Sites will have to be larger than they normally are to accommodate social distancing and keep the lines manageable, she said.</p><p>Grocery stores were off the list for early voting sites during the July election due to social distancing, and will likely not be willing participants in November either, she said.</p><p>A sizable chunk of polling sites traditionally are in schools, and with classes potentially back in session by then, the schools likely will not be willing to accommodate the influx of voters during the pandemic—nor should they, DeBeauvoir said.</p><p>"That's a real problem," she said. "With the loss of all of the facilities ... it's going to be hard to find enough locations that are convenient to voters, both on Election Day and for early voting. It's going to be a real challenge."</p>4. We'll need to update behind-the-scenes staff for mail-in voting
<p>In addition to adding poll workers, DeBeauvoir said she'll be doing some restructuring behind the scenes as well.</p><p>Every election, the Early Voting Ballot Board is in charge of overseeing early votes and certifying signatures and mail-in ballots.<br></p><p>But even though DeBeauvoir hired three times the usual number of workers—more than 50 in total—to sift through applications and verify signatures, that won't be enough to handle the volume of mail-in requests and increased turnout for the November election, she said.</p><p>"We're going to have five times as many" mail-in ballots and requests, DeBeauvoir said.</p><p>For the next election, she'll hire more people and restructure some of the behind-the-scenes labor, schedule them in shifts, and generally beef up the operations.</p><p>Some structural changes could become permanent if voters pressure their lawmakers to expand mail-in balloting to everyone, as some states have done, Gutierrez said. So far, efforts to expand the eligibility for mail-in voting have been <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2020/06/16/texas-vote-by-mail/" target="_blank">unsuccessful</a>. </p><p>Part of the extra $1 million spent in this last election went toward handling the influx with new envelope-stuffing machines that helped get mail-in ballots out to voters and high-speed scanners to deal with the volume, she said. Those were one-time expenses that won't need to be made again for this November.</p>5. PPE was worth the money
<p>A large chunk of the extra $1 million in election expenses went toward personal protection equipment, and voters used it dutifully, DeBeauvoir said. The county will employ the same strategy on a larger scale in November, and start stockpiling supplies now in case there's a shortage later this year.</p><p>Not only were voters and poll workers using the equipment, she said, but almost every voter wore a mask. People also used the sanitizer and<a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2020/07/14/voting-in-texas-coronavirus/" target="_blank"> the finger cots and popsicle sticks</a> were popular ways to minimize contact with the machines, she said.</p><p>"Voters understood intuitively how to use them, so that worked really well, and we're going to continue that," she said. "In other words, we know now how voters respond to ways to keep the polling place safe, and I think it's working really well." </p><p><strong>Want to read more stories like this one? Start every day with a quick look at what's happening in Austin. Sign up for Austonia.com's free daily morning email.</strong></p><!-- Begin Mailchimp Signup Form -->
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(Kate Volti)
Back when being a freshman in high school meant noisy hallways teeming with teenagers and weekends overflowing with dances and games and first dates, Cassidy Miller, 14, had things to look forward to in ninth grade.
<p>But now, as <a href="https://austonia.com/education/austin-school-closures" target="_blank">Travis County schools delay opening </a>and attempt to keep the coronavirus from spreading, Cassidy imagines high school to be a warped version of the all-American experience she excitedly anticipated.</p><p>Masks on everyone, isolated lunches, Plexiglass dividers, fear of the virus. No pep rallies, no fun.</p><p>Cassidy wants to go anyway. </p><p>"It's hard not knowing what you're missing out on and feeling like you're not a part of something," she said. "I miss all my friends, a lot."</p><p><strong>Weighing isolation against risk</strong></p><p>Teenagers and young adults <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/18/health/coronavirus-children-schools.html" target="_blank">are believed to spread the illness more easily</a> than their younger counterparts, but there are also compelling arguments<a href="https://austonia.com/Coronavirus/teen-pandemic" target="_blank"> suggesting the emotional and academic costs </a>of online-only classes could be disproportionately high for older kids.</p><p>And so for their parents, the decision on whether to let them go to high school in person or keep them home for online classes is fraught with contradictions.</p><p>Pitting academic success and their own mental health against the risk of exposing themselves and their families, older students are in a lose-lose scenario.</p><p>"It's such an unnatural and unfair situation to put young people in," said Kate Volti, Cassidy's stepmom, who wants to see a better pandemic situation before she feels comfortable with Cassidy returning in person.</p><p>Outside the social aspect, Cassidy also says she needs a collaborative classroom and plenty of structure in order to do well in her classes, which she said was lacking in the spring when classes were online.</p><p>Ariela Choiniere, a 16-year-old Austin junior in the marching band, is willing to go online because she believes school isn't safe enough yet—but she's also hoping to find a way to get around it a little bit.</p><p>"If there's one day where band says I have to be there, I'm pretty sure [the administration] won't mind if I'm there in school for that day," said Ariela, who faced challenges with the online technology last semester, in part because of her dyslexia.</p><p><strong>Considering other kids</strong></p><p>Some households also have the complicating factor of younger siblings.</p><p>Volti and her husband, Mike, plan to avoid day care and in-person school for their younger son and daughter, ages 8 and 3.</p><p>But their learning "pods"—in which a handful of families come to a quarantine agreement and agree to only socialize and learn with each other—would only remain an option if Cassidy doesn't attend school in person, because the other families say they worry about her being exposed and then putting them at risk, Volti said.</p><p>"I totally get it. Nobody's doing anything that's wrong or illogical," Volti said. "But it's a really tough situation where it feels like the best interests of one kid is sort of at odds with the best interests of another kid."</p><p>Then there's the disconcerting notion of a high school experience—Cassidy calls it "scary"—that will look very different from what students are hoping to recapture by going back in person right now.</p><p>"High school and the social dynamics of high school are ingrained in the fabric of our society. We're fascinated, we cling to it. And that's just been turned on its head," Volti said. "Since we can't achieve normal, is the benefit of what is left of that experience really worth the risk?"</p>
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Joey Diaz on Joe Rogan Leaving LA Next Month
Joe Rogan is reportedly moving to Austin, comedian and friend Joey Diaz said on his podcast.
<p>Rogan has mentioned on his own podcast the <a href="https://austonia.com/city/joe-rogan-austin" target="_blank">possible move to Austin</a> before but has yet to confirm any decision. </p><p>On Diaz's July 15 podcast episode, "The Church #804," Diaz himself said he is thinking about leaving California, citing taxes, a <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/14/us/police-violence-defund-debate-trnd/index.html" target="_blank">reported rise in crime</a> and <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-07-01/lapd-budget-cuts-protesters-police-brutality" target="_blank">cuts to police budgets</a>. He went on to say that he received a call from Rogan last week that he is moving next month. </p>
<p>Rogan last mentioned a possible move to Austin in June, saying he would fly guests out to be part of his podcast. The "Joe Rogan Experience" podcast <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/25/opinion/joe-rogan-spotify-podcast.html" target="_blank">landed a deal with Spotify</a> this year reportedly worth $100 million.</p><span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="88b6d9eb939fa5ff861549f7b3fd48aa"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NKl5PyGUbQc?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<p>Rogan was <a href="https://twitter.com/ShannonBSweeney/status/1274851787527393281?s=20" target="_blank">rumored to be looking for real estate</a> in Austin.</p>
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(Dawn Holmes)
When single mom Denise Thurston prepared to drive with her young son from her Austin-area home through Houston in June, just as anti-brutality protests were boiling over, she was glad she had just bought a handgun.
<p>Thurston, 45, worried that something like a highway shutdown would leave them vulnerable to protests, or counter protests, or non-protest opportunists who saw a woman and child stuck in an immobile car as easy targets. </p><p>"I'm not a big person," Thurston said. "I need some power behind me somehow, and that was my way of doing it." </p><p><strong>A chaotic year </strong></p><p>Thurston bought her 9mm Glock pistol and became licensed to carry after the March lockdowns began. Previously a firearms novice, Thurston also now owns an AR-style shotgun she purchased this summer for home protection. </p><p>She is among hundreds of thousands of Texans whose pandemic-era gun purchases broke state and national records.</p><p>Those at ground zero for this phenomenon—trainers, retailers and students—say a wave of fear ushered in by societal destabilization in March, social unrest in May and police walkouts in June have driven the purchases both by newbies and by more experienced owners. </p><p>"It shows how people are not trusting their government, they're not trusting what's going on or the information they're receiving, and so they want to take their personal protection into their own hands," said Michael Cargill, owner of Central Texas Gun Works in Austin.</p><p>As a result, Texas gun owners have filled up classes, emptied ammo shelves, and swamped gun stores and manufacturers. </p><p>"It did heighten my concerns, and it definitely prompted me to get more aggressive with getting comfortable with my gun and to start carrying, absolutely," said Austin-area resident Dawn Holmes, who got her license to carry last week.</p><p><strong>Soaring numbers</strong></p><p><br/></p><div class="rm-embed embed-media"><div class="flourish-embed flourish-chart" data-src="visualisation/3197709" data-url="https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/3197709/embed"><script src="https://public.flourish.studio/resources/embed.js"></script></div></div><p><br/></p>
<p>In Texas, the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted 121,926 background checks for handguns in June, more than three times the number the same month last year.</p><p>The number was even higher in March, right after the pandemic lockdowns began, and the FBI warned that some state shutdowns threatened to reduce the staff available for background checks on new sales and that the surge would create a backlog that could further delay new gun sales from being approved. Checks for Texans seeking to purchase handguns soared from 60,512 in February to 147,714 in March.</p><p>That number alone was more than double the checks that took place in December—the highest number of last year—and more than triple the monthly average for 2019.</p><p>Nationally, the FBI said they had done some 3.9 million background checks in June, the highest monthly total on record.</p>
<p><strong>'They're afraid'</strong></p><p>"It's based on a variety of reasons, but they're afraid," said instructor Tina Maldonado, who works with the local shooting league <a href="https://www.agirlandagun.org/" target="_blank">A Girl And A Gun</a>, and who has more than doubled the amount of time she spends on the range with students since the lockdowns began. "Most of them are families, or parents whose spouses travel a lot, and they just decided they need to protect themselves."</p><p>Cargill said he has seen lines out the door and double the number of students since March 13, what he calls "D-Day," the weekend the first wave of new purchases hit.</p><p>Cargill predicts another increase around the election. Supporters of President Donald Trump are worried about their gun rights if Democrat Joe Biden wins, he said, and African Americans he's spoken to are worried about the empowerment of white supremacy and the growth of racism if Trump gets re-elected.</p><p>"I ask people questions, when they come in the store, to see where their heads are at," Cargill said. "Everyone should just take a deep breath and settle down a little bit. We need to be a lot nicer to each other. Worry about controlling yourself instead of controlling someone else."</p>
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(Syda Productions/Adobe)
Fighting over child custody and visitation is painful under even the best of circumstances, but attorneys and parents say the coronavirus pandemic has brought more stress, more fear, and more "live ammunition" to the battlefield.
<p>That has certainly been true for divorced Austin dad, "M," who asked that his real name not be used to protect his son's privacy.</p><p>M dropped his preteen off at the boy's mother's house after a regularly scheduled visit in March. Then M didn't get to see his son again until Independence Day.</p><p>Instead of returning the son to his dad two weeks later, as agreed in a hard-fought custody order, M's ex-wife refused to release the child, who has a medical condition that puts him at risk if he catches COVID.</p><p>"She said, 'You can't see your kid because of COVID. I'm not going to let you have him at all," said M. "The pandemic helped her use his health against me."</p>
A high level of fear
<p>Austin family attorney Robert Luther said situations like M's have become a regular occurrence.<br></p><p>"There's a lot of acrimony out there, caused by the philosophical and political positions relative to the pandemic," said Luther. "Everybody's fear level is super high, or their defensiveness is super high. It's one or the other."</p><p>And if it was bad in the beginning, when canceled schools in March threw custody agreements into chaos, then it's even worse now with the latest surge in numbers, Luther said.</p><p>Arrangements between parents who disagree on how to handle the pandemic—or who just don't trust each other—were uncomfortable, but the parents had resigned themselves to it for a few months, he said.</p><p>Now trust is eroding, he said.</p><p>"This new level of long-term fear has affected a whole different round of people, I think, who thought they were being optimistic," he said. "And now being optimistic is really hard to do."</p>Help from the courts
<p>In April, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that— without hearings—custody agreements must be honored, regardless of pandemic orders or school calendars.<br></p><p>It helped M, whose relationship with his son had been relegated to texting and Zoom. In June, a judge threatened to hold his ex-wife in contempt if she tried it again, and said M could make up the lost time, according to court records.</p><p>The judge also directed him to have a COVID-19 test before another overnight visit with his son.</p>An uneasy arrangement
<p>Austin mom Jodi has been uncomfortable for months about sending her two young kids to spend time with her estranged husband, who she believes is too cavalier about the virus.<br></p><p>As the numbers have spiked, so have her fears. But there is no written visitation agreement, and the uneasy cooperation that allows them fairly equal time with the kids is precarious. A custody agreement is likely in the future, when a divorce gets filed, and it's vital to her that they stay on good terms.</p><p>"I don't agree with how he's handling it, but I don't want to fight," said Jodi, who also asked that her full name not be used to protect her children.</p>New lines of communication
<p>Some divorced parents have found a way through years of anger and hurt, finding that the pandemic has opened up new lines of communication that benefit the kids.<br></p><p>Anthony and My-Cherie Haley have worked hard to make things easy during this uncertain time, they said. A birthday party and a Pre-K graduation spent together with the kids during lockdown would have been unheard of in the five years since the divorce.</p><p>"It's not been bad for us, interestingly," Anthony Haley said. "All that's just been put aside, and we're just working together on all of it. It's the only way to make it through this."</p><p>Said My-Cherie Haley with a laugh: "Was it always hunky-dory? No. But we've been really flexible with each other because of this pandemic."</p><h5>Want to read more stories like this one? Start every day with a quick look at what's happening in Austin. Sign up for Austonia.com's free daily morning email.</h5><!-- Begin Mailchimp Signup Form -->
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(Jett Anderson/Hinge)
The coronavirus pandemic has radically changed the way people perform everyday tasks, from buying groceries to getting a haircut. But perhaps no activity looks more different—and in some cases, more challenging—than dating.
<p>Looking for love has always come with obstacles, and they've become even greater in an era of mask-wearing, social distancing and quarantining. Nevertheless, many Austinites continue to navigate these uncharted waters. Their stories make one thing clear: Dating during COVID-19 is no walk in the park—except for when it is. </p>
Making it to the next round
<p>Mary Añez is not a big fan of text-based communication. If she matches with somebody on the dating app Hinge, she's quick to invite them to talk via Zoom. The video chatting tool isn't seamless, but it's a good way to gauge chemistry before committing to an in-person date.</p><p>"I don't want to use the word interview, but it's kind of like that," Añez says with a laugh.</p><p>Añez has maintained a fairly strict quarantine, and she admits the path forward for dating during a pandemic is often unclear. She's gone on a few socially distanced walks and has the option to hang out with dates on her spacious balcony, but even then, she has to trust the other person has been respecting quarantine as well.</p><p>"I'm not about to be like, 'You have to only see me,' but there is a virus," she says. "So it's like, kind of, you do only have to see me, although that's not really the emotional terms of engagement that we have."</p><p>While COVID-19 presents a unique set of obstacles for dating, the principles are familiar. For Añez, maintaining a strict quarantine or opting to meet up at a spot where both people feel comfortable ultimately boils down to respecting boundaries.</p><p>"All I ask is that you respect my time, and you respect me as a person, which makes it sound like the bar's on the floor," Añez says. "But that, I think, is the highest bar that a lot of people never really reach."</p>"That escalated quickly"
<p>Jett Anderson and Sean Moore couldn't have predicted how momentous their first date would be. Not because sparks flew, but because it took place one week before Austin partially shut down in March.</p><p>"That was the last time I went downtown," Moore says. "I was driving down there thinking, 'Why am I going to see a guy in a pandemic? Why am I doing this?' But it worked out, I guess."</p><p>Moore and Anderson have been dating for nearly four months now. From their second date onward, they've had to spend virtually all their time together at each other's homes.</p><p>"Literally on our second date, I'm inviting a strange man into my home," Moore jokes. "I remember just getting weirdly like, 'OK, I trust you with my family's life. I hope that you're serious.'"</p><p>Since then, they've enjoyed many blissful nights watching <em>The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel </em>and <em>What We Do in the Shadows </em>and playing <em>Animal Crossing: New Horizons. (</em>They're keeping an eye on their in-game avatars as they talk to me via Zoom.) They're looking forward to the day they can safely go kayaking or play disc golf again, but they're grateful for the firm foundation they've established during the pandemic.</p><p>"I would like to do other things, yeah, but because of how close we've gotten and how hyper-focused we've been, I really enjoy that," Anderson says. "If it ever opens up again—"</p><p>"<em>Please </em>don't talk like that!" Moore interrupts.</p><p>Anderson tries again: "<em>When</em> it does, eventually, that foundation's there."</p>Pandemic pro tips
<p>Britny Eubank was arguably better-equipped for pandemic dating than most people. She's been practicing <em>extreme </em>social distancing—about 1,600 miles—for the past eight months with her boyfriend, who lives just outside Philadelphia.</p><p>The two last saw each other in February; the pandemic derailed Eubank's plans to fly to Philly in June, and they're not sure when they'll see each other next.</p><p>"We have another attempt planned for the fall, but at this point, everything is 'wait and see,'" Eubank says.</p><p>In the meantime, they've stuck faithfully to phone and video dates every Thursday night for the last eight months; they boosted it to twice a week after Eubank's June trip got canceled. In that time, Eubank has picked up a few long-distance tips that could make pandemic dating more bearable.</p><p>"Do your small talk via text, that way you can find out what you have in common and talk about those more interesting things on actual 'dates,'" she says. "Try to be as patient as possible with technical difficulties. And if your relationship seems like it's going in the long-term direction, definitely be intentional about the time you spend together."</p><h5>Want to read more stories like this one? Start every day with a quick look at what's happening in Austin. Sign up for Austonia.com's free daily morning email.</h5><!-- Begin Mailchimp Signup Form -->
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