Reese Oxner / The Texas Tribune
Saturday, March 27, 2021 | 06:00
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Austin and Travis County may continue to require face masks for at least a little longer after a District Judge denied Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s request for a temporary lock on the local mandate.
Paxton sued local officials for refusing to end the term after Gov. Greg Abbott lifted state restrictions earlier this month. Paxton will likely appeal the decision.
District Judge Lora Livingston has yet to render a final ruling on the merits of the case, which means Austin and Travis officials can be asked to comply with state regulations.
Meanwhile, County Judge Andy Brown said Friday’s ruling at least prolongs the amount of time masks are required in their communities, giving them more time to vaccinate their residents.
“I’ve been doing everything I can to protect the health and safety of the people in Travis County,” Brown said in an interview.
“And Judge Livingston’s ruling today allows us to continue to do so,” he added.
Abbott ended nearly all of the state’s Covid-19 safety restrictions on March 10, including the state mandate to wear face masks, citing declines in hospitalizations and Covid-19 cases. Many public health experts said the move was too early, before most of the state was vaccinated or even eligible for a vaccine.
In its order, Abbott said that “no jurisdiction” can require a person to wear a mask in public if the area does not meet a certain threshold for coronavirus hospitalizations in that hospital region. As a result, many local governments removed their restrictions. However, this was not the case in Travis County, where officials said they would continue to demand the public use of masks.
Paxton sued Austin and Travis County the day after the state restrictions were lifted. It held that Abbott’s order supersedes all local jurisdictions.
State attorneys lobbied for the judge to grant a temporary injunction the next day, but Livingston said it would not have been fair to give the defendants just one day to prepare. Therefore, masks continued to be necessary in Travis County.
“Every day that we can keep the local Health Authority mask mandate in place is a victory,” Austin Mayor Steve Adler said in an interview with The Texas Tribune on Friday. “The fact that we were able to keep him in place for the last two weeks, during spring break, is a victory, for as long as it lasts.”
Adler said that as the number of cases stabilizes and eligibility for vaccination expands, the City can move forward with plans to open more businesses, but the mask’s mandate should remain in effect.
“You can wear masks and even open businesses, you can wear masks and have more students in school,” Adler said. “You can wear masks and do all those things, and it’s such a small price to pay to protect lives and people.”
Texas has seen an improvement in conditions as new Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations have dropped to lows not seen since October. Vaccines are increasing with more than 11.5 percent of the population fully vaccinated, although African-descendant and Hispanic Texans face systemic medical disparities and are being vaccinated at disproportionately low rates. Starting Monday, all Texans age 16 and older will be eligible to sign up for a vaccination appointment.
But even as the numbers are improving, Travis County Provisional Health Authority Dr. Mark Escott testified in court on Friday that over the past week, he’s seeing the downward trend stabilize. And with variant strains of Covid-19 in the mix, Escott said the situation could get worse without public health intervention.
“It is clear that we have not beaten Covid-19 yet,” Escott said. “And it is clear that if we are able to maintain those protections, it will give us time to vaccinate more people and ultimately save lives.”
This is not the first time that Paxton has filed a lawsuit over Covid-19 restrictions. In December, Paxton successfully sued Austin and Travis County because local officials implemented a nightly curfew during the New Year’s holiday weekend. However, the case was not decided until after the holidays and officials enforced the curfew.
Paxton also blocked El Paso County’s order ordering non-essential businesses to close in November.
The final outcome of the case could have implications for other Texas cities and counties on how local governments can enforce their own public health mandates, even after the state ordered their termination.
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