Harris County imposes face covering order

Harris County and the City is Houston have issued a new order for residents regarding the coronavirus. As of Monday residents in the area will be required to wear a face mask or some sort of face covering to help flatten the curve of Covid-19 cases in the area.

Although most residents agree that the new measure is necessary for their safety and others, many believe it should have been enforced before.

“They should have done it before they did the quarantine because they knew the virus was already coming and getting bigger,” said Aryana Guerrero, a Harris County resident who believes that wearing a face mask should have been mandated as soon as word of the virus got out.

“I feel like they should have made it as a mandatory mask thing first then it would've probably died some of the stuff down from the jump anyways” said resident Braxton Brown.

Brandon Herrarte also agreed, believing the face mask could have not only prevented quarantine but saved many lives if they were enforced before. “They should have done it at the beginning when none of this was going on, after seeing so many people die now they decided to do this,” said Herrarte.

Anybody in a public area like a store or restaurant will need to wear a face covering that covers their mouth and nose, but people who are exercising outside alone, eating, drinking or driving will not be cited if they are not wearing one. Children under ten years old and people with respiratory issues are also exceptions, they will not need to wear a face covering.

Aryana Guerrero, also says the measure is necessary because many people are asymptomatic and may not know they are carriers of the virus. “I think it's good because you know people coughing everywhere you never know who has it,” Guerrero said explaining her opinion on the measure.

Not following the order can bring serious consequences in Harris County. People who chose to not comply with the order will be charged a $1,000 fine. Although most residents agree with the order they believe the fine is an excessive punishment.

“Not everyone has a mask right now cause they just set it out just last week so you know all the mask are all taken from stores and stuff and people are still trying to find people to get mask from so I know it's gonna be harder to do so I don't see that the fine should be there,” said Aryana Guerro.

Houston’s fine on the other hand will be voluntary and instead of handing out tickets they’ll give out masks. Braxton Brown, another resident in the area thought that a punishment like that will actually help the community.

“Giving a face mask is better cause there's a lot of people out there that can’t even afford a face mask and that's just that and with jobs being shut down and stuff like that how you gonna expect somebody to go buy a face mask,” said Brown.

For the next 30 days or until further notice residents will need to keep their face mask handy to avoid being cited.