Face Masks

Starting today (08-16-21) the City of Lawton is requiring social distancing at all city owned and managed buildings. Week before last they announced that they would be requiring face masks for all city employees and the general public while indoors at any city property. Most, if not all of the city's COVID-19 policies have been reinstated due to the recent increase of cases, hospitalizations and Delta variant infections.

Oklahoma House Democrats just introduced legislation House Bill (HB 2967) know as the "Safe at School" act that would repeal the current statewide ban on mask mandates in schools.

While masks won't be mandatory will you be asking your child to wear a face mask while at school? Take the quick poll and let us know your thoughts.

The City of Lawton just announced that they will be reinstating their COVID-19 policies for face masks at all city owned properties. You'll be required to wear a face mask to enter all city owned facilities and proprieties where city employees work, or conduct business with the general public.

LPS (Lawton Public Schools) has expired their mandatory mask mandate for all Lawton area schools within the LPS district. The news came yesterday (05-24-21) that it will no longer be required for students, faculty or visitors to wear masks or face coverings inside or outside. The mask mandate was originally put in place for all Lawton schools back in August of 2020 during the pandemic.

Earlier this week on Tuesday (05-04-21) Governor Kevin Stitt issued an executive order ending Oklahoma's "State of Emergency" for the COVID-19 pandemic. The state's number of COVID-19 new cases is down 94% from it's peak. The number of new cases per capita are among the lowest in the country and hospitalizations are down 90% and have been stable for over two months. This has allowed the

This past Tuesday (03-23-21) the city council met and voted to repeal Lawton's mask mandate. The updated or revised city ordinance (21-07) eliminated the requirements for local businesses to post COVID-19 and face mask signage. The ordinance also ended the mandatory mask mandate as well. Since then the City of Lawton has issued a statement concerning the wearing of face masks in city owned buildings, properties and facilities. The mask mandate may have been repealed but you'll still be required to wear a face mask and/or covering when visiting, or going into any City of Lawton site or facility.

Governor Greg Abbott announced yesterday (03-02-21) that the mask mandate in Texas is being lifted and that several other COVID-19 rules and restrictions would be repealed later this week. Gov. Abbott wants to open the state back up 100% and as you can imagine it's caused quite a bit of controversy and concern. Some agree, others disagree. We're finally starting to see COVID-19 numbers drop, but is it too soon?

Starting tomorrow (01-02-21) at 12:00am the new TSA (Transportation Security Administration) will require all persons using public transportation to wear a face mask. This will include: aircraft, bus, train, boat as well as any other type of public transportation. You'll have to wear a mask both in the terminal and while being a passenger. The mandatory face mask mandate will be in effect from 02-02-21 until 05-11-21 and may be extended depending on how the COVID-19 pandemic is going.

Oklahoma Democratic State Rep. Jason Lowe has just introduced a new bill. HB 2192 which is being called the "COVID-19 Save Lives Response Act" would make face masks mandatory throughout the state in every county and every town. It would also limit the number of people to 10 total at all nonessential gatherings. There's also a $1,000.00 fine associated with non-compliance to certain mandates listed within the new bill. This is all in response to the state's increasing number of positive COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.

Lawton City Hall The Lawton City Council will be meeting today in regular session at 2:00pm CST to discuss and vote on possibly ending the mandatory mask ordinance. All citizens are encouraged to voice their opinions, as well as local and area businesses. The meeting will be held in the auditorium at Lawton City Hall in downtown located at: 212 S.W. 9th street, on the corner of 9th and C Ave.

Yesterday the city council met to hear arguments both for and against the city's mandatory face mask ordinance. The mask ordinance went into effect back on July 17th (07-17-20) when the council passed the new mandate and it remains in effect currently. Those apposed asked the council back on July 28th (07-28-20) to repeal the measure and yesterday's meeting was an acknowledgement of that.