Governors, Local Officials in Mask Mandate Tug-of-War
Voice of America
Two school districts in Texas are defying an order issued by Governor Greg Abbott that prohibits local governments from issuing face mask mandates as the southwestern U.S. state faces a dramatic surge of new COVID-19 infections.
Michael Hinojosa, superintendent of the Dallas Independent School District, announced Monday that all students and teachers should wear face masks. The move comes just days after the superintendent of Houston’s public schools, the state’s largest school district, announced that he would ask the district’s trustee board to approve a similar mandate. The head of Dallas County’s governing board of commissioners, Judge Clay Jenkins, has filed a lawsuit against Abbott’s executive order. The nonprofit South Center for Child Advocacy has also filed a lawsuit in Travis County, whose county seat, Austin, is also the state’s capital city, seeking a temporary restraining order against the governor’s order. Amid the growing opposition to his order, Abbott on Monday called for hospitals across the state to voluntarily delay all elective, or non-emergency, surgeries and medical procedures to focus all of their efforts on treating the increasing number of COVID-19 patients. Many hospitals have either reached or exceeded patient capacity, with two major hospitals in Houston erecting tents to handle the overflow of coronavirus patients.Young women and their coach Dioguinho bring it in for a team huddle at the start of a football training session run by the Bola de Ouro social program, at the Complexo da Alemao favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, May 16, 2024. Agatha strikes a ball during a football training session run by the Bola de Ouro social program, at the Complexo da Alemao favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, May 16, 2024. Relatives watch a football training session for young women run by the Bola de Ouro social program at the Complexo da Alemao favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, May 16, 2024.
FILE - A vendor prepares his umbrella as hot days continue in Manila, Philippines, April 29, 2024. FILE - Motorcyclists stop in the shade of a skytrain line on a hot day in Bangkok, Thailand, May 3, 2024. FILE - A man drinks water as he takes a break from cleaning underground sewage on a hot day in Mumbai, India, May 2, 2024.