Jenkins asks Abbott to require masks in Texas as Dallas County hits another record
Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins is asking Gov. Greg Abbott to make masks mandatory and reinstate the “Stay Home, Stay Safe” order for 30 days after the county reported a record 570 coronavirus cases Sunday.
The county also confirmed another COVID-19 death Sunday, an 80-year-old Irving man who did not have any known underlying health conditions.
The “Stay Home, Stay Safe” order, more commonly referred to as a quarantine, would require non-essential businesses to shutter their stores again. Restaurants, coffee shops, bars, and non-essential retail would be limited in operating ability or closed entirely.
Jenkins wrote in a letter to Abbott that a committee made up of epidemiologists, doctors, hospital executives and healthcare leaders are recommending 30 more days of quarantine, mandatory masking, mandatory social distancing and closure of all entertainment businesses, youth sporting events, public pools, camps and other venues or activities that are not conducive to wearing a mask and maintaining social distancing.
“I made my peace early on during this crisis to always follow the science and our public health experts,” Jenkins wrote. “I recommend that you enact these requirements statewide, or at the very least, regionally.”
Jenkins wrote in his letter that if Abbott is not willing to enact these policies he should rescind a previous order that prevents regional governments from doing so.
He recommends enforcing these rules with fines.
Abbott is facing pressure from within the GOP to maintain the open economy and has been vilified for supporting rules requiring people to wear masks in public.
“Texas will follow data in making decisions about how we move forward,” Abbott said at a news conference Sunday. “With a positivity rate of more than 10% I declared early on it would be an alarm bell for Texas to take action to rein in the spread of COVID-19. And that’s exactly what we began to announce this last week: measured steps to make sure we are taking specific identified action ... to reduce the spread of COVID-19.”
He said that if Texans work together the spread of the virus will be slowed again, but Texas families need to be able to work and provide for their families.
“We know we can do both: continuing to keep business open while containing the virus,” Abbott said.
He said Texans will still have to go back to wearing masks, social distancing and staying home when they can.
Vice President Mike Pence, at the same news conference, said he and President Donald Trump will stand behind Texas.
“We’re going to make sure that Texas and your healthcare system in Texas have the resources, have the supplies, have the personnel to meet this moment,” Pence said.
He said Texas is testing at an enormous scale but that he wants to work with Abbott to increase testing and the speed at which tests are returned.
Dallas County has seen a spike in confirmed coronavirus cases in June. The reopening of the Texas economy has been portrayed by Texas politicians as the primary reason for the surge.
The county has seen an increase of cases in young people, with ages 18 to 39 making up half of the total since June 1.
About a third of Dallas County COVID-19 deaths have been among people in long-term care facilities. Jenkins said in the news release that social gatherings, include house parties, hold significant responsibility for the increase in confirmed cases.
About two-thirds of hospitalizations in Dallas County have been among patients under 65 years old. Hispanics have been the hardest hit by the virus, making up 60% of coronavirus cases. Asians are the second most-impacted, with 187 of every 100,000 infected.
Jenkins urges Dallas County residents to begin staying home when possible, even if the state does not restart its quarantine.
Dallas County currently requires anybody in public to wear a mask covering their face and nose. Tarrant County has a similar order in place.