Killeen Mayor Issues Face Mask Mandate For Commercial Buildings

As Bell County reports another day of increases in COVID-19 cases, Killeen Mayor Jose Segarra on Wednesday morning issued a local disaster declaration that mandates the use of face masks in all commercial buildings where social distancing is not possible.

You can read a PDF copy of Directive 4 here.

According to News 10, the order goes into effect at 12:01 AM Thursday, July 2 and will remain in effect until 11:59 PM on July 21. Segarra says that he decided to issue the order after he met with members of Killeen’s senior citizen community.

The order applies to all employees, visitors and customers who are not able to keep a distance of at least six feet from each other while inside a commercial building.

Businesses that fail to enforce the order could be fined up to $1,000.

Segarra went on to add that face masks are not required when exercising inside a gym when there is enough distance between people working out. Churches are not considered "commercial" businesses, and the mayor says that they should continue to follow Governor's Abbott's social distancing guidelines.