SAN ANGELO, Texas — At Tuesday's virtual San Angelo City Council meeting, Mayor Brenda Gunter addressed citizens regarding the recent spike in newly-confirmed COVID-19 cases in Tom Green County.
Here is Gunter's statement:
"If you’ve been watching local news or following the City of San Angelo online, then you’ve likely noticed there has been a spike in positive cases of COVID-19 in our county. This rise in cases stems from people gathering over Memorial Day weekend. Since that weekend, we have reported more than 70 positive cases. Community spread is alive in our community.
While you might see ‘X’ number of cases in a day, know that the number of people quarantined or isolated is usually much higher than the number of positive cases from that day. If someone has a party at their home and tests positive for COVID-19, then every single person who was there will also need to be quarantined.
We’ve heard the argument that if people can go to grocery stores then they should be able to have friends over at their house. Our health officials here in the City of San Angelo have confirmed that large gatherings, even in the privacy of your own home, are not any safer than going to public places. In fact, they have proven to be less safe. Why? Because you are spending longer periods of time with people in a confined space when they come to your home. When you go to the grocery store, you are generally not there long. The less time you spend around others, the less the risk you have of contracting COVID-19.
When the city was in a stay-at-home order in April, many citizens complained that our officials were abusing their authority and that citizens should be allowed to manage themselves. Well, now is the time for you to responsibly manage yourselves. Other citizens think we need to be stricter with our authority and place the city on another lockdown. As the governor has said, we cannot be stricter than his executive orders so we cannot issue another stay-at-home order from the City at this time. So, this means that it is time for each and every citizen of San Angelo to step up and take personal responsibility and use social discipline. While we can’t require everyone to wear masks, every person should be doing this to help their fellow citizens. If you are a business owner, then you should be taking the necessary measures to not only protect your employees but also your customers. This includes wearing masks and taking extra precautions to prevent the spread of germs.
The spike in cases should serve as a wakeup call to everyone in Tom Green County. The time to act is now. Today. We need everyone to step up to help protect San Angelo and its surrounding areas.
We realize it is summertime and everyone has been locked up in their homes for the last few months, but we must continue to be responsible and do our part to limit the spread of this disease. And we all know that we heard high temperatures would kill this virus. Well, if you take a look at our numbers our heat, our 100-degree temperatures have not killed this virus. Citizens, I urge you to stay home and only leave for essential services such as work, groceries and medical appointments. When you do leave, please wear a mask to avoid spreading anything. This is what our Local Health Authority has advised at this time. Wash your hands often for 20 seconds. Do not touch your face, and that’s hard. I did not realize how often I touch my face until we were told “Do not touch your face.” Use delivery services to get your meals from restaurants. Don’t take the whole family to the grocery store. Get what you need and get out. Stay six feet away from others at all times. Use your common sense. Self-isolation means no running errands, no meeting up or driving around with friends … it means staying home and staying safe! We need everyone to do this to stop the spread and put an end to COVID-19.
I remind everybody, what we have today is a tremendous impact of community spread. Regardless of whether we say it is “contact to a known person,” it is community spread. That means from one person to another person, regardless of the fact that that person was also diagnosed as positive. It’s contact from one person to another – that’s community spread."
