SAN ANGELO, Texas — Mayor Brenda Gunter and city leaders held a press conference addressing the rising COVID numbers in the county and gave updates on what the city is doing to stop the spread.
Out of 254 counties in the state of Texas, Tom Green County represents one of the counties with the most unvaccinated people.
Right now there are 70 new cases in San Angelo, a total of 265 of active cases and 20 people currently hospitalized with COVID. Mayor Brenda Gunter and other city leaders addressed the rapid rise in cases this afternoon and shared the rising numbers.
“Since July 1, there have been a total of 41 persons hospitalized with COVID. At 83% of those which had been hospitalized were unvaccinated individuals. The number that are vaccinated is a smaller part to the number of tested positive which haven't required hospitalizations. A large percentage of those also are unvaccinated,” Gunter explained.
With the City of San Angelo announcing the Delta variant making its way to San Angelo this week, many want to know if a mask mandate will be called and if upcoming events will be required to have a limited capacity. Gunter says as of now there will be no changes to how the city is going about things and she plans to follow the governor's lead.
“There will be no mask mandate being put on the city or the county. We are following the leadership of our governor and will not make any changes until severely necessary,” Gunter said.
What about children going back to school? Will they be required to wear a mask? How do parents trust that teachers were vaccinated? Children ages 12 and under don’t have a vaccine available so how will schools regulate the virus in the classrooms?
“As of now, there is no vaccine specifically for those under 12 years of age. The governor cannot be everywhere and every place and I’m a voice for 100,000 people. I do not blame parents for being concerned with their children's well being. We plan to meet with the San Angelo Independent School District Superintendent Carl Dethloff to speak about what parents and educators need to do to prepare for this upcoming school year,” Gunter explained.
"What we’re talking about today is personal choice and personal responsibility. That means each and every person is responsible for making sure themselves and others around them are safe. Get vaccinated.” Gunter concluded.
In addition, all those who are currently uninsured will still be able to get a vaccine free of charge. The mayor plans to continue to keep residents updated on day-to-day COVID numbers.