Amarillo Mayor Ginger Nelson Makes Emotional Plea About COVID-19

The Amarillo Public Health Department's COVID-19 report card reports 6,334 active cases in the Amarillo area with 2,872 active cases in Potter County and 3,462 in Randall County. These numbers are causing alarm locally and nationally. Today Amarillo Mayor Ginger Nelson made a desperate plea on Facebook asking everyone in Amarillo to wear a mask.

Mayor Ginger Nelson:

As we make decisions for our city through this pandemic, I am painfully aware there are no right or easy answers. Every leader, from the president to Congress to governor and mayor to physician and the CDC, continues to learn more about COVID-19 and what must be done to slow the spread and relieve pressure on our hospitals.

Our hospitals are full and doctors and nurses are asking (truly begging) the City (all of us) to help them. They want the City to enforce the Governor’s mask order to decrease COVID cases in our city. There are legal and practical reasons why the City can’t issue tickets to individuals who won’t wear masks.

I’m asking for your help - how can we encourage all citizens to wear masks? Right now, it is one of the few things we can do that could rescue hospitals and patients. Share your ideas with me today! I’m inviting Chamber members and business leaders from across Amarillo to join me on a Zoom meeting to discuss solutions to our very real crisis.

I know many of us are sad, angry, tired, and frustrated about COVID. This is a difficult time for all of us. I feel the pain of all of you who are making difficult decisions right now. I also hear the urgent plea from our front-line medical workers who are trying to put beds in every nook and cranny at our hospitals to give every patient the best care possible (which cannot take place in a temporary or tent hospital).

The situation is urgent. This Zoom call is a time for productive dialog, ideas, and perspectives to help pull us through this challenging time. Please participate if you want to add value to the discussion. Join the call on Thursday, December 19th at 5pm.

I urge you to take part in this and join the conversation. It could save someone’s life, including yours. Wear a mask. Please.