Masks needed in suburbs?
Area officials weigh whether to follow Harris County’s order with own
Against the backdrop of a rising number of COVID-19 cases, Galveston and Fort Bend officials are moving ahead with issuing mask orders, while other suburban areas are weighing their options.
Fort Bend County Judge KP George on Tuesday announced at a press conference that the county would require all employees and customers to wear masks inside commercial retail businesses within the county. The order goes into effect on Thursday.
“All our stakeholders believe it’s time for us to do something because this issue is kind of spiraling out of control,” said George.
The city of Galveston on Monday issued a mask order, as COVID-19 cases continue to rise in Galveston County. The order, which was signed by Mayor Jim Yarbrough, will go into effect on Thursday. It requires all employees and visitors over than age of 10 to wear face coverings when inside a business and in close contact to others.
As of Tuesday, the Galveston County Health District reported a total of 2,040 cases. Only two weeks ago, the number of total cases had surpassed 1,000, according to the health district. Forty residents have died so far from the illness.
“The bottom line is, we don’t have many tools left available to us, and we have to do everything we can to slow this thing down,” Yarbrough said in a phone interview.
Despite the city of Galveston issuing a mask order, Galveston County Judge Mark Henry has said that he would not mandate one that would effect businesses countywide.
Other counties are taking a similar approach.
In Waller County, Judge Trey Duhon said that he would not mandate a mask order for businesses yet but is urging businesses and individuals to wear masks.
“Now I always reserve the right to change course if the circumstances dictate, but right now as it’s been during this whole time, the circumstances in Waller County are just different than they are in Harris County and Fort Bend County,” said Duhon over the phone on Tuesday.
Waller County’s cases have remained relatively low compared to other suburban counties, but cases are steadily rising. The county currently has 111 positive COVID-19 cases total, but 68 of them have occurred within the last month, according to a Facebook post written on Monday by Duhon.
Despite the rising number of cases, the county has only had two hospitalizations and no fatalities throughout the pandemic, according to Duhon.
Montgomery County Judge Mark Keough also will not issue a mask mandate, said Jason Millsaps, his chief of staff.
The Tea Party-backed judge has resisted taking actions he believes would infringe on the rights of constituents.
“It is incumbent upon us as a county, as people, to self-regulate to keep from having our freedoms taken away,” Keough has said.
Montgomery County health officials are preparing for possible hospital bed capacity issues.
According to the Montgomery County Public Health District, the county added 90 new cases Tuesday bringing the total to 1,737. Of those cases, 678 are active.
In Fort Bend, cases have rapidly increased within the last week. On June 15, the county reported 2,496 cases. A week later, the total had risen to 3,176 cases.
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In Brazoria County, County Judge Matt Sebesta is leaving it up to the mayors of the cities on whether they will require masks for businesses, according to a county spokesperson.