Statement From Titus County Judge Brian Lee

Titus County Judge Brian Lee

Titus County, the City of Mt Pleasant, and the COVID-19 leadership team have been meeting daily since mid-March. We are in constant communication to monitor the impact of COVID-19 in our community. Our objective is to maintain an acceptable level of infection while still allowing individuals, organizations, and businesses to operate close to normal.

We recommend that residents and visitors are strongly encouraged to wear face coverings when in public settings. According to the Governor’s latest executive order on June 26, “Individuals are encouraged to wear appropriate face coverings, but no jurisdiction can impose a civil or criminal penalty for failure to wear a face covering.”

It makes enforcement of mandated masking effectively impossible at the local City and County level. Ultimately it is the individual responsibility of each person to protect themselves and others in our community. The key is to find that balance. Failure to do so will result in the continued spread of the virus, which will prolong the return to normalcy in all aspects of our community.

Your local government cannot enforce rules that disrupt this balance. Removing all restrictions and recommendations will not work, nor will strict enforcement of stay-at-home orders, business closure, or mandatory masking.

Best practices to prevent the spread of COVID-19 include handwashing for at least 20 seconds, maintaining at least six feet of distance between yourself and others in public, utilizing hand sanitizer when needed, staying home when sick, and wearing a face-covering in public. Specifically, we would like to encourage our local businesses to request and strongly encourage wearing masks by all patrons.

Committed to lead the way are this committee, our local physicians, and the healthcare community in mitigating the spread of this virus.