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A re-instituted Houston mask mandate requiring workers to wear masks while on the job may defy a statewide ban on such requirements.
Mayor Sylvester Turner said in a memo to city employees Monday that the mandate was being issued because of a "recent uptick in positive COVID-19 cases in our community and in our workplace linked to the new delta variant."
Governor Greg Abbott repeated his executive order last month banning mask mandates by any state or local government entity. Those who go against the ban are subject to fines of up to $1,000.
Local mask mandates in conflict with the order have faced legal action by the Texas attorney general's office. The mandate in Houston coincides with a sharp spike in hospitalizations across the state.
For more reporting from the Associated Press, see below.
A spokeswoman for Abbott's office and a spokesperson for the attorney general's office didn't immediately reply to emails seeking comment Tuesday.
The new order requires all employees to wear a mask while on city premises and when they can't be socially distant from others. In Dallas County, an administrative court judge has ordered that anyone entering a county courthouse must be wearing a mask to be admitted.
On Monday, there were 6,853 people in Texas hospitals with COVID-19, which was the most since February 22.
The resurgence of COVID-19 in Texas has put some cities' health systems in dire circumstances, as intensive care unit beds fill up, officials say.
In south Texas, Nueces County Judge Barbara Canales this week said hospitals in Corpus Christi, Victoria, Kingsville and Beeville were limited in their ability to handle the latest COVID-19 surge of patients due to a shortage of nurses. San Antonio is also facing a similar nursing shortage amid a spike in patients.
Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, said during a news conference Tuesday he was worried that the return this month of Texas children to classrooms could make the situation worse in the state. Hotez asked officials to help students get through the school year safely with the help of social distancing, masks and vaccines.
"If we don't do that, it's really hard to imagine how things go well," he said. "You've got delta accelerating, low vaccination rates among adolescents, young adults, no ability to enforce mask mandates. What makes people think this is going to go well?"
