Fort Bend County Judge KP George Extends COVID-19 Safety Measures for County-Wide Businesses

FORT BEND COUNTY, TX – As a continued effort to protect the health of Fort Bend County residents during this worldwide pandemic, County Judge KP George’s Declaration of Local Disaster for Public Health and Order on Facial Coverings for Commercial Entities was extended by the Commissioners’ Court to continue through 11:59 p.m July 31, 2020. The order requires all commercial entities with a physical location within Fort Bend County providing goods and services directly to the public, must require that all employees and visitors to their business premises or other facilities to wear face coverings.

“As I have always said, our decisions will be based on data, science, and community input which is why we are extending this Mask Up Order until July 31st. We are all in this together and if we continue doing our part, we will succeed in beating the coronavirus without the Governor of Texas forcing lockdowns or other extreme measures,” said County Judge KP George. “Let’s work together to slow the spread by taking comparatively easy precautions to protect each other and our loved ones. We must continue making decisions that unequivocally put people above politics and protect human life.”

All commercial entities are encouraged, as their financial limitations will allow, to provide face coverings including masks to their visitors who are unable to provide face coverings including masks to their visitors who are unable to provide their own. Additional details on the Mask Up Order can be found here. Businesses can utilize the provided signage to meet the notice requirement in the Order here.

Speakers at Tuesday, July 30th Special Commissioners’ Court said the following:

Chris Siebenaler, Regional Senior Vice President and CEO of Houston Methodist:
“A year ago while we might have been at 90% occupancy, roughly now, our current occupancy is 90% but roughly 28% of that is COVID related.”

Scott McClelland, HEB President: “From our role of being the largest provider of food and groceries in the state of Texas, in the greater Houston area, and in Fort Bend County, my primary goal is to keep my employees and our customers safe. We have an opportunity here to choose life. If we don’t choose life, one of the things we’re going to find is that we will be deemed by history harshly in terms of our responsibility to manage our way through the Coronavirus.”

Dr. Sapna Singh, Fort Bend Medical Society: “Universal masking is probably one of the only chances we have to reopen and not put peoples’ lives at risk. All or nothing is not an option. We can open up the economy safely with masks. It is the lowest cost-effective measure we have.”

Jeffrey Boney, resident of Missouri City: “I spent 9 days in ICU and had overcome near death encounters as a result of this vicious virus. I personally lost friends, associates and colleagues to the pandemic and saw its impact on so many others. To me, this is not a partisan issue. I believe that wearing a mask in a business is a great way to prevent an entire workforce from getting infected. In the long term, it will be much better financially to have people mask up in business than to not do so.”