We’ve heard a lot of talk about wearing masks over the past few days. I’ve been a proponent of it for a while because it has proven to cut down on transmission of disease and is a pretty easy step to take, assuming supplies are available to people.
But one city in Texas is already taking things to the next level.
Located right on the border of Texas and Mexico, the city is called Laredo and it has a population of 260,654.
Laredo has decided to require all residents older than 5 years old to wear some form of mask when out in public. This includes anyone in a building, public transit, or outdoor gas station. And if residents do not comply, they may face a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $1,000.
The city is calling the masks “nose to mouth covers” and states that they can include any type of fabric, scarf, or bandana. So basically you can put any type of cloth substance over your face and that qualifies.
If you are doing some form of exercise in your yard or garage, you do not have to wear a mask.
The executive order will be put into place until April 30.
I am all about wearing the masks to contain the spread of the disease over the next few months. Invoking a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 virtually overnight for violating this law seems a bit extreme so I wonder how heavily it will be enforced.
My guess is that they will not enforce this in a super strict way in the beginning and give residents a chance to get used to the new executive order but who knows. They are obviously take things very seriously.
I think we might be seeing more executive orders like this requiring, or at least strongly recommending, for people to wear some type of cover when out and about in stores.
And I think this is for the better.
It will make things safer for the general public and also for certain employees that work at places like grocery stores and pharmacies. It will also expedite the amount of time that we have to wait for things to get back to normal.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see the custom carry over in future years so that during flu season more people wearing masks out in public.
I just hope they are also issuing out guidance on how to keep these face covers sanitary.
I could see some people getting lazy and having one designated piece of fabric as their cover for several weeks without thinking about how contaminated that fabric has gotten.
So hopefully directions will be clear and given out to citizens.
Daniel Gillaspia is the Founder of UponArriving.com and the credit card app, WalletFlo. He is a former attorney turned travel expert covering destinations along with TSA, airline, and hotel policies. Since 2014, his content has been featured in publications such as National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, and CNBC. Read my bio.