Fort Worth City Council voted unanimously Dec. 1 to extend the city’s COVID-19 mandate for face coverings until March 2, 2021.

The resolution further extends an executive ordered issued by Mayor Betsy Price in August that requires the use of face coverings in all Fort Worth businesses that offer services to the public. According to the resolution, the purpose of the order is to continue “to protect the health and safety of the community and address developing and rapidly changing circumstances.”

COVID-19 case counts continued to climb across Tarrant County throughout the month of November. As of Dec. 1, the county has confirmed 102,051 total cases of COVID-19, including 1,401 new cases in the past 24 hours. Out of confirmed cases, 849 deaths have been reported.

“The transmission of COVID-19 has not significantly dissipated and remains a significant threat to the health and safety of the Fort Worth community,” the resolution says. “Additional action is necessary to decrease rates of infection and the number of people admitted to hospitals, ICU, or on ventilators.”

According to the Tarrant County Public Health COVID-19 dashboard, 535 of the 839 ventilators in the county are available, and 896 of the 4,939 total hospital beds are occupied by COVID-19 patients.


Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in March, public health officials have confirmed 45,243 cases of COVID-19 in the city of Fort Worth, including 32,792 patients who have recovered and 412 deaths.