Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced Tuesday that Texas is fully reopening and that statewide mask mandates will be rescinded this week, noting that declining hospitalization rates and increased distribution of virus vaccines were reasons to end the coronavirus restrictions. He said the order will go into effect next Wednesday and that the government should not micromanage the lives of everybody.’
“To be clear, COVID has not, like, suddenly disappeared. COVID still exists in Texas, the United States, and across the globe, but it is clear from the recoveries, the vaccinations, from the reduced hospitalizations, and from the safe practices Texans are using that state mandates are no longer needed,” Abbott cautioned during a press conference.
Gov. Abbott said businesses are able to limit capacity or implement additional safety protocols if they choose to do so and that Texans should continue following the appropriate health guidance. “Despite these changes remember this, removing state mandates does not end personal responsibility personal vigilance is still needed to contain COVID it’s just that now state mandates are no longer needed,” he adds.
Gov. Abbott says people and businesses don’t need the state telling them how to operate. He wrote on Twitter that Texas has reported a new one-day record for the number of people receiving vaccines – more than 216,000. “We are now providing more than 1 million vaccines a week. This is a big reason why hospitalizations are at the lowest level in four months,” he tweets.
Federal health officials have warned states that it is still “far too early” to lift coronavirus restrictions as new variants of the contagious disease are still being studied. “Please hear me clearly: At this level of cases with variants spreading, we stand to completely lose the hard-earned ground we have gained. I am really worried about reports that more states are rolling back the exact public health measures we have recommended to protect people from Covid-19,” U.S. Centers for Disease Control Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said.
Radical left politicians such as California Gov. Gavin Newsom have also tweeted “absolutely reckless” about lifting mandates. Others, however, have praised Gov. Abbott for following the science and allowing businesses to act as they please. Conservative author and pundit Candace Owens pointed out to Gov. Newsom that all of California’s citizens have been fleeing to Texas since the pandemic.
“To all the leftists crying because Texas and Mississippi have announced they will resume FREEDOM— did you know that you are still welcome to stay in your home all day and double mask? You don’t need a government mandate to be a paranoid recluse,” Owens tweeted.
Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan said Gov. Abbott was using vaccination studies, treatment options, and hospitalization rates, to empower citizens to exercise personal responsibility for their health. That’s what freedom is all about in the first place.
