Texas Governor Greg Abbott has denied requests from a state’s judge and mayor to enforce mask-wearing in schools and government buildings. The mayor of San Antonio and a county judge asked Abbott for permission via letter.
The letter from Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff came a day after Abbott tweeted, “The time for government mask mandates is over – now is the time for personal responsibility. In May, I signed an executive order prohibiting mask mandates by gov’t entities. Every Texan has the right to choose whether they will wear a mask or have their children wear masks.”
Nirenberg said a mask mandate could help save the lives of children before they head back to school. In the letter sent Wednesday, Nirenberg and Wolff requested permission to enforce mask-wearing.
“As you know, students younger than 12 are not yet eligible for vaccination so it’s on all of us to protect those young people in our community,” Nirenberg said in a press briefing Wednesday. Wolff said “schools should be able to do that” referring to a mask mandate. Wolff added “[Unvaccinated people] are putting themselves in great jeopardy, they’re putting everybody else in great jeopardy.”
Governor Abbott’s office told Fox News the governor’s official statement on mask requirements is in and of itself his Tuesday tweet shooting down the notion of mask mandates.
Metro Health sent a text notification this week to Bexar County residents advising them to wear masks indoors regardless of vaccination status, which falls in line with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s updated guidance this week.
The CDC had said in May that fully vaccinated people were not required to wear masks indoors, but updated its mask guidance Tuesday for vaccinated people over the threat of the delta variant of the virus. It now urges people in some areas of the country with “high” or “substantial” COVID-19 transmission to mask up indoors.
