Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced on Tuesday that he will soon be lifting the state’s mask mandate, even though federal officials have urged states not to give it up. COVID-19 precautions and have seen a slow decline in the number of cases across the country.
“Make no mistake, COVID-19 has not disappeared, but it is clear from the recoveries, vaccinations, reduced hospitalizations and safe practices Texans use that state mandates are no longer necessary,” Abbott, a Republican, said in a statement. .
Texas will join a dozen other U.S. states that are not currently required to wear masks statewide, including neighboring Oklahoma, according to a National Academy for State Health Policy count. It is currently the most populous state without a statewide mandate.
The governor’s executive order, which will take effect on March 10, also removes the capacity constraints imposed on the state’s businesses. Local officials can still impose “mitigation strategies” as the number of hospital admissions increases in their area, but it is illegal to punish residents who defy hidden guidelines and cannot limit business capacity to less than 50%.
Cases and deaths from COVID-19 had plummeted after a wave that followed the winter vacation across the country, including in Texas. The governor justified his decision by pointing to the state’s drop in the number of cases, noting that the daily number of cases is the lowest since November last year.
But last November, COVID-19 cases in Texas had skyrocketed. At the time, Governor Abbott opposed calls for tougher measures to curb the spread of the virus, despite spikes in hospital admissions.
Health data also shows that the state continues to record worrying new cases of COVID-19 and hospitalizations, making it one of only three “red states” – states with the most concerning test positivity data – in the latest federal guidelines. And as states have relaxed restrictions, the Biden administration has repeatedly warned that the decline in the number of COVID-19 cases in the country has slowed amid reports of faster-spreading mutant variants of the virus.
“Please hear me clearly: at this level of cases, with variants spreading, we will completely lose the hard-earned ground we have gained. These variants pose a very real threat to our people and our progress,” said CDC Director Rochelle Walensky. reporters on Monday.
“Now is not the time to relax the critical precautions that we know can stop the spread of COVID-19 in our communities,” Walensky added.
Andy Slavitt, senior White House adviser on the response to COVID, criticized Tuesday night’s decision, arguing that “now is not the time to do this.”
“We appreciate the challenges governors face in making all the decisions they face and we recognize that they need to take a lot of this,” Slavitt said on MSNBC. But the president was very clear that we will save a lot of lives like the first 100 days – 50,000 lives, that’s the estimate, if everyone wears a mask. And so we think it’s critical, especially now that we’re starting to see “An increase in cases in Texas, which we’ve seen over the past week, and especially as we now have plans to vaccinate the country. Now is not the time to do this.”
At a press conference announcing his decision on Tuesday, Governor Abbott warned that lifting the required masks “does not end personal responsibility.”
“Personal vigilance to follow safety standards is still needed to contain COVID. It’s just that now state mandates are no longer needed,” the governor said.