Mask Mandate Issued for All Tom Green County Schools

SAN ANGELO, TX — The Tom Green County Health Authority Dr. James Vretis issued an order for masks to be worn at any school facility in Tom Green County.

“Due to the continuous rise in COVID cases and its strain on the local hospital system, the Tom Green County Local Health Authority has issued a property control order on any school facility in Tom Green County where there has been a student or staff member who has tested positive for COVID-19. Once there has been a positive case at a school facility, masks will be required for everyone on that campus,” he said in the order.

Vretis, who was reached by telephone as the order was emailed, said the challenge for health care providers during this current spike of the Delta variant of the coronavirus is crowding area hospital emergency rooms. While the state’s Covid dashboard reports the number of Covid patients in Trauma Service Area K’s hospitals consist of 8.49 percent of all patients, three big differences are present for this surge that didn’t exist during the winter surge of the Alpha variant.

First, there is less help from the State of Texas. Last year, Shannon Medical Center was augmented by more traveling nurses. Not as many are present during this surge. At 80 beds with Covid already, it is difficult to open more beds up — and the beds are available — but staffing shortages are curtailing capacity to man those beds. Second, Vretis said the numbers of those currently hospitalized does not account for the packed emergency rooms he sees. Third, he said that in 2020, elective surgeries were completely curtailed. There is some curtailment of surgeries ongoing now, but not a complete stop, he said.

Vretis is an ER doctor at Shannon. Holding the position of county health authority is an additional duty.

Vretis recognized that there remains some vaccine hesitancy countywide. He said there are enough doses of Covid vaccinations to handle demand and then some that are available now.

“Even if you survive a Covid infection, if you get really sick and are hospitalized, it will alter your life forever,” Vretis warned. He strongly recommended every person in the county who hasn’t to get a vaccine and if needed, to get a booster shot.

“This disease is deadly,” Vretis said.

In additional to getting a vaccination, Vretis recommended masks for all while indoors or around others, even if you have recovered from Covid or are vaccinated.

“I believe the vaccination rates have improved slightly over the past several weeks, but we still need more to get vaccinated,” he said.

The mask order for schools goes into effect August 26 and will continue until the end of the school day on October 15, “or until the Texas Education Agency (TEA) or a court of competent jurisdiction reinstitutes enforcement against school districts with mask mandates.”

While Vretis urged citizens to social distance, wear masks, and wash hands frequently, he said he was not planning on further mandates in the county in the immediate future. The Rock the River 2 Concert headlined by Jack Russell’s Great White scheduled for August 27 at the River Stage will likely be allowed to happen, he said.

“I would hope, however, that restaurants and bars and patrons going to those establishments, see this order as a wakeup call and start mitigating risks on their own,” Vretis said.

Vretis stressed that his decision on school masks is not driven by politics but by conditions and data he sees on the ground in the county.

Vretis said physicians and health care staff are tired. To get a picture of how the current spike in cases is impacting health care professionals, he pointed to the video released by Shannon Medical Center today: