The city of Austin will continue to need masks according to Greg Casar, a member of Austin City Council, despite orders from Texas Governor Greg Abbott to lift the mask mandate across the state from Wednesday.

This is legal according to the Austin City Council. based on a Texas Health and Safety Code that stipulates that a municipality “can enact regulations to protect the health of persons in the municipality” and “can enforce all laws that are reasonable for the protection of public health”, according to the ordinance. Due to the ongoing public health crisis which is the COVID-19 pandemic, the way the virus spreads through droplets and close contact is the Risk of new variantsThe city of Austin is therefore in a position to enact whatever rules it deems essential to keep its citizens safe and contain the spread of the virus.

According to Dr. Austin public health agency Mark Escott is still in phase 4 of the COVID-19 risk guidelines, Austin is reported by KVUEThis discourages gatherings of 10+ people and recommends companies to operate at 50 percent capacity (Austin moved from Level 5 to Level 4 in February). Escott said there has been an increase in hospital stays in the past three days, although overall case numbers are trending downward.

As Casar noted, Austin previously issued orders that the state ultimately overturned, namely when Austin issued a last-minute order to close restaurants at 10:30 p.m. for the entire New Year’s weekend. The state challenged the decision in court and successfully overruled it on New Year’s Day.

Austin current orders, which have been in place since November, require face masks for both restaurant staff and diners, unless diners are seated at a table to eat and drink. Those who violate the regulation are currently fined up to $ 2,000 per day. However, it is unclear whether the city can enforce this on orders from Governor Abbott arrange „No jurisdiction can impose any punishment for not wearing a face-covering.”

This story evolves. Check out this section for updates.