Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Issues Statewide Mask Order
On Thursday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a statewide mask order.
Every Texan is required to wear a mask or cover their face while in public. The new mask order applies to counties that have had more than 20 confirmed COVID-19 cases. The order muse be followed where a person cannot social distance.
Exemptions include:
- Children who are younger than 10 years old
- People who have a medical condition or disability that prevents them from wearing a face covering
- People who are eating or drinking or seated at a restaurant to eat or drink
- People who are exercising outdoors or maintaining social distancing from other people
- People driving alone or with passengers who are part of the same household as the driver
- Anyone obtaining a service that requires temporary removal of the face covering for security surveillance, screening, or a need for specific access to the face, such as while visiting a bank or while obtaining a personal care service involving the face, but only to the extent necessary for the temporary removal
- Anyone in a swimming pool, lake, or similar body of water
- Anyone who is voting, assisting a voter, serving as a poll watcher, or actively administering an election, but wearing a face covering is strongly encouraged
- Anyone who is actively providing or obtaining access to religious worship, but wearing a face covering is strongly encouraged
- Anyone who is giving a speech for a broadcast or to an audience
- Any person in a county (a) that meets the requisite criteria promulgated by the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) regarding minimal cases of COVID-19, and (b) whose county judge has affirmatively opted-out of this face-covering requirement by filing with TDEM the required face-covering attestation form – provided, however, that wearing a face covering is highly recommended, and every county is strongly encouraged to follow these face-covering standards