SAN ANTONIO – With the update to the emergency order — masks are now mandatory in public. And now, a city councilman started a new initiative to help raise awareness.
Councilman Manny Pelaez of District 8 has been using photos of celebrities ranging from local figures like SAPD Chief William McManus to Spurs legend Bruce Bowen.
The initiative shows the people of San Antonio that celebrities are also using masks and it helps raise awareness about the importance.
“People have to together defeat this virus by staying inside and taking precautions,” District 8 Councilman Manny Pelaez said.
One of the precautions is wearing a mask when you leave your home or when you’re out in public. So to help encourage people, Pelaez started the masked hero initiative.
“Having friends of theirs and people that they trust show them that they too are wearing masks right and encouraging San Antonio and reminding them we are all in this together,” Pelaez said.
It’s simple, it’s easy, it’s harmless and it’s happening every day.
"Yeah at 9 o’clock in the morning we show everybody the masked photo and then in the evening I will unveil the superstar,” Pelaez said.
And not only does this masked hero initiative help raise awareness on the importance of wearing a mask, but it also helps boost morale in a time where we need it the most.
“You know I was I was getting tired of just a slow drip of sad posts and I decided that my job of a city Council person is to also encourage people,” Pelaez said.
COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the new virus, stands for coronavirus disease 2019. The disease first appeared in late 2019 in Wuhan, China, but spread around the world in early 2020, causing the World Health Organization to declare a pandemic in March.
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