Bastrop County Judge Paul Pape on Monday canceled his directive that required residents to wear face coverings in public shortly after Gov. Greg Abbott issued an order eliminating local enforcement of such requirements as part of his plan to reopen Texas businesses.

On Monday, during a briefing of his new order which will allow many businesses across Texas to reopen their doors on a limited basis on Friday, Abbott said that though he strongly recommends residents wear face coverings, it is not a mandate. He said his order superseded local government requirements and barred cities and counties from imposing penalties or fines to anyone who chooses not to wear a face covering.

Pape’s April 8 directive that required residents to wear face coverings in public included provisions for anyone caught violating the order of up to 180 days in jail and a fine up to $1,000.

"Although no longer required under local or state law, as your county judge and director of emergency management for Bastrop County, I strongly encourage all Bastrop County residents to continue to wear face coverings in public places where social distancing cannot be consistently maintained," Pape said Monday. "This small inconvenience can help in slowing the spread of the COVID-19 virus in our county."

The lifting of the local mandate was enacted as positive cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, grew to 62 in Bastrop County on Monday.

As of Tuesday morning, Bastrop County has had two deaths associated with COVID-19 and 11 residents have recovered from the virus, according to county data.

Most COVID-19 cases in the county involve people between the ages of 50-59. Thirteen people with the virus are 30-39, 12 are 40-49, 10 are 60-69, six are 20-29, three are 70-79, two are 10-19, and one is at least 80.

Thirty-nine people who have the virus live in the unincorporated areas of the county, 20 live in Elgin, two in Bastrop and one in Smithville, according to the county’s latest data.

"Please protect yourself and others from the spread of this deadly virus," Pape said. "These next few weeks are critical to flattening the curve and getting Texas fully open for business and back to the freedoms we all enjoy."

As of Monday, the county had conducted 269 COVID-19 tests at its community test site at Mayfest Park in Bastrop, which opened March 24 and is closed to the public. Only people who are referred by a doctor are eligible for testing at this site.

Last week the county conducted 154 tests at random to residents at eight different locations across the county as part of a local study to determine the percentage of possible asymptomatic individuals that may not know they’re infected with COVID-19 and are out in public possibly infecting others, Emergency Management Deputy Director Chris Files said.

"Random testing is done so there is a better understanding of the pattern and spread of COVID-19 in the county," Bastrop County Health Authority Dr. Desmar Walkes said last week, emphasizing that the testing is a way to determine how widespread the virus is and an important tool in mitigating its spread.

Files told county commissioners on Monday that a preliminary report by an epidemiologist on this study should be available by the end of the week.

Monday was the 43rd day the county’s Emergency Operations Center, which includes representatives from each city, was active in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.