Mayor creating list of safe businesses

From City Staff Reports

Mayor Eric Johnson is asking businesses in the city to fill out a brief online form to publicly state whether they are requiring face coverings on their property. 

The survey responses will populate a map and searchable database that will be available to the public. Mayor Johnson asked the City of Dallas Office of Data Analytics and Business Intelligence to create the form and database last week after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced he would lift statewide COVID-19 restrictions and the mask mandate. 

The governor’s order went into effect Wednesday. He has forbidden local jurisdictions from requiring masks at private businesses, but businesses are still allowed to make their own rules on their properties. Mayor Johnson hopes the database will help residents know businesses’ masking policies before they go out. The mayor has strongly encouraged people to continue to take precautions while out in public and has called on businesses to require both customers and employees to wear face coverings.

“It is critical that we make informed decisions and stay on guard as we strive to reach herd immunity,” Mayor Johnson said. “This database will benefit businesses and provide a centralized resource for the people of Dallas as we continue our fight against this deadly virus. We will beat the COVID-19 pandemic and return to normalcy. But until then, we need people to mask up and continue practicing social distancing as we vaccinate as many people as possible, as quickly as possible.”

Businesses can fill out the form at https://bit.ly/3elHMXE.