‘It is now time to open Texas 100%:’ Texas Gov. Greg Abbott reverses statewide pandemic orders

Exactly eight months after issuing a mask mandate in most Texas counties, Gov. Greg Abbott reversed that order on Tuesday, along with most other statewide COVID-19 orders he signed last year.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott made the statewide announcement Tuesday while speaking to the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce.

“Too many Texans have been sidelined from employment opportunities,” Abbott said. “Too many small business owners have struggled to pay their bills. This must end. It is now time to open Texas 100%.”

Effective next Wednesday, all businesses regardless of classifications are allowed to open to 100% capacity, Abbott said.

Abbott said “Texas is in a far better position now,” with increasing vaccination numbers and more knowledge of how to manage the spread of the virus. Abbott also pointed to a decreasing hospitalization rates and positivity rate.

Still, Texas lags behind most of the nation in vaccination percentages. As of Wednesday, roughly 13 percent of the state’s population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, ranking 48th in the United States.

In a tweet posted Tuesday after Abbott’s speech, San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg disagreed, saying “we’re not out of the woods yet.”

If COVID-19 hospitalizations rise above 15% for seven straight days for any hospital region, county judges may opt to impose stricter COVID-19 mitigation strategies, but they cannot impose face mask restrictions or fines, Abbott said.

Although Abbott acknowledged that the virus hasn’t disappeared completely, he said “state mandates are no longer needed.”

The move was quickly chasti... (Read more)

Tweets mentioned:

https://twitter.com/Ron_Nirenberg/status/1366856592096964612

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