Lockhart mandates face coverings

LPR staff report

Lockhart Mayor Lew White at a special called meeting on Tuesday, June 23 amended the city’s declaration of a local state of disaster to include a provision that commercial establishments require customers to wear facial coverings.
As of Tuesday, June 23, there were 286 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Caldwell County.
“The CDC and the Texas Department of State Hospital Services have each indicated that facial coverings, when combined with proper physical distancing and hand washing, are key to helping prevent the spread of COVID-19,” said Lockhart Mayor Lew White. “It is important that we do what we can to help protect the most vulnerable people in our community.”
Effective as of 11:59 p.m. on June 25, all businesses in the city must require all employees and visitors to wear face coverings over their nose and mouth unless:
• A person is alone in a separate single space, whether indoors or outdoors;
• A person is only in the presence of members of the same household or residence, whether indoors or outdoors;
• When doing so poses a verified mental or physical health, safety or security risk
• When the person is outdoors engaging in an allowed activity while alone, or with only members of the same household or residence, or while maintaining a consistent separation of six feet or more from others
• When the person is eating or drinking in a restaurant or bar
• The person is under the age of 10.
Businesses will be required to post a notice of the requirement for facial coverings at the business’s entrance or in a conspicuous location.
At their discretion, businesses may choose to conduct temperature checks or health screenings.
Consistent with Executive Order GA-26 issued by Governor Greg Abbott, no civil or criminal penalty will be imposed on individuals for failure to wear a face covering. Businesses are allowed to deny entry to visitors who choose not to wear them.
Read the complete order at lockhart-tx.org.