SAN ANGELO, Texas — The City of San Angelo has issued an order that prohibits any outdoor public events with more than 100 people, and all public events with more than 100 people in any city facility.
The order, which took effect on June 24, is in accordance with an amendment Gov. Greg Abbott made to executive order GA-26 that allows the mayor, county or judge to impose restrictions on gatherings in excess of 100 people. It applies to the City of San Angelo and Tom Green County.
"There's upwards of 150 cases of COVID-19 since Memorial Day. There are 11 hospitalizations as of Thursday, June 25. So, the city really knew that they needed to do something, and this was the mayor, the judge, and the local health authority who all came together and decided this needed to be done," Lorelei Day, COSA communications coordinator, said.
Many facilities are exempted from the order, by the decision of Gov. Abbott. The exempted facilities are:
Religious services
Local government operations
Child-care services
Youth and summer camps
Recreational sports programs
Critical infrastructure operations
Swimming pools
Sporting events
Museums
Libraries
Rodeo events
Day said upcoming events in the city and/or county will not necessarily be canceled, but attendance will be limited to 100 people. In addition, the order requires masks to be worn in all auditoriums/theaters and performance halls by employees, volunteers and audience members.
“The mask-wearing is going to be enforced by the event operator. It’s going to be their responsibility, just like with any other codes they know they have to abide by. We expect the event operators to comply," she said.
For those who don't comply, Day said there could be fines as well as the possibility of detainment.
"We do have the authority to detain people, if necessary, and we definitely don’t want to do that, so we ask that everyone just complies with everything," she said.
Gov. Abbott did not say when the order will end, but Day said she predicts it will last through the month of July.