ODESSA, Texas — Odessa businesses are still requiring employees and customers to wear masks.
The declaration that Mayor Turner signed last week is only good for seven days, so council had to make the decision again during a work session this week whether or not to extend that declaration for another seven days.
It's likely next week the council will have to make the same decision.
You see the signs outside of nearly every business in town, masks are required, but before the mayoral declaration, there was nobody enforcing the governor's mask mandate.
With rising COVID numbers the Odessa City Council unanimously agreed that the mandate has to be enforced.
"I just think it's something that we unfortunately have to do I hate it I don't like it. I feel boxed in but I think its something that we have to do," said Steven Thompson, Odessa City Councilman for District 2.
The two mayoral declarations, one of continued response to the COVID-19 disaster and the other that requires business owners to enforce face coverings in their stores were extended for another seven days.
"Its just out of respect for others and I feel like we really need to support this," said Thompson.
Extending the declarations is the city's way of showing their support for the local hospitals during this pandemic.
"We can take them dinners and thank them but we can't do their job so I believe that it is incumbent now that we send a message that says we get it we understand we know we can't do everything but we can do something and this is something we can do," said Thompson.
As a reminder the declaration requires business to ask all employees and customers to wear a mask businesses who disregard the declaration will be given a warning for the first offense and then fined $250 for the second offense.