On the first day of the new COVID-19 mask mandate for Dallas County, a number of companies contributed and many customers supported them.
At the same time, Dallas County encouraged vaccination in the areas with the lowest vaccination rates.
Odyssey Pets on Preston Road near Beltline in north Dallas was one of the first companies last year to require customers to wear masks when key stores stayed open during stay-at-home orders.
Owner Mike Doan posted Dallas County’s new order on Wednesday, but he said he’s not excited about police masks again.
“We don’t want to be in the middle of it. And that is a serious mistake. And this one is after children. We want to stay open. We want to do it right. We want to be safe, ”said Doan.
Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price said he supported the mask mandate, which went into effect at midnight.
“We’re not looking for emotions out here. We look at science and as a result of science we will fish where there are fish, “Price said.
This approach applies to Dallas County’s efforts to promote vaccination in areas that, in a recent study, accepted the lowest number of people who have previously accepted vaccinations.
“According to PCCI, the Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation is talking about areas that are not vaccinated,” Price said.
The wing in the PCCI study with the largest raw number of unvaccinated people is adjacent to Parkland Hospital, across from Harry Hines Boulevard. It includes the Children’s Medical Center, but also many apartment complexes with many residents in the Market Center area along the Stemmons Freeway. The study says 4,327 people were unvaccinated as of Aug. 6, about 57% of the population.
The area with the highest percentage of unvaccinated people according to the PCCI study was part of Glenn Heights in the extreme south of Dallas County. This area was 94% unvaccinated out of a population of 1,845.
An area near Odyssey Pets along Coit Road north of Spring Valley Road in Richardson
“I drive this road every day. That’s the unvaccinated zone, ”Doan said.
The shopkeeper said his staff were vaccinated and wearing masks.
A customer in the store on Thursday is an emergency room nurse and also a parent.
Sara Murray’s children were in the shop with her, all wearing masks.
“You are too young to be vaccinated. It is a big concern for me. Returning to school is very important to me. I’m so glad they decided to make the masks mandatory, ”said Murray.
Companies that refuse to participate in Dallas County’s new mandate can face fines of up to $ 1,000. You have three days to comply.
At the same time, Governor Greg Abbott and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton have said they intend to fight Dallas County’s rules.
In one lawsuit, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins won an opportunity to ignore the governor’s order banning mask mandates, but Abbott and Paxton said they would appeal to a higher court.
For information on vaccination in Dallas County by zip code, click here.
What you should know
- According to the CDC, the delta variant is almost twice as contagious as previous coronavirus variants.
- The greatest risk of transmission is from unvaccinated people, who are much more likely to be infected and therefore transmit the virus.
- Layered prevention strategies, such as wearing masks indoors in public places, are needed to reduce the transmission of the Delta variant and stop the epidemic.
[ad_1]
