SAN ANTONIO — With Texas preparing for the lifting of statewide COVID-19 mandates on Wednesday, San Antonio-area leaders are taking extra measures to emphasize safety in the community while not straying outside the legal room granted to them by Gov. Greg Abbott.
On Tuesday, Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff announced another update to the city and county's joint executive orders regarding the novel coronavirus, saying that, starting Wednesday, local businesses will be required to post their health policy in a visible place for incoming customers.
"We're not telling them what [their health policy] is because we cannot tell them what it is," Wolff said. "We think it's important for the person coming to that business to know whether they're entering a safe environment or not."
Wolff and Mayor Ron Nirenberg, who have been staunch in imploring the community to continue wearing masks and practicing other safety measures with the pandemic still ongoing, also took time to thank the local businesses who have publicly said they'll continue to require masks of their patrons for the time being.
Abbott's decision to lift the state's coronavirus-related orders has received a polarized response across the state. Earlier in the day on Tuesday, officials in Austin have said they'll continue to enforce the use of face coverings throughout the community, effectively defying the governor. Meanwhile, Houston-area leaders have called Abbott's decision "misguided," and Wolff himself called it "very irresponsible."
As of Tuesday, nearly 2.695 million Texans have been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus, including more than 198,000 Bexar County residents. While numbers have been trending downward for some time, the Centers for Disease Control still recommends wearing a mask in public places and social distancing in order to mitigate virus transmission.