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brooklynite

(93,873 posts)
Tue Mar 2, 2021, 04:06 PM Mar 2021

Abbott ends Texas mask mandate, opens businesses '100 percent'

Source: Houston Chronicle

Gov. Greg Abbott announced the end of the statewide mask mandate Tuesday.

He also announced that businesses can soon open at 100 percent capacity March 10. In a speech to the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce, Abbott declared that "state mandates are no longer needed" following promising COVID-19 numbers over the last few days.

"Too many Texans have been sidelined from opportunity," Abbott said. "... This must end. It is now time to open Texas 100 percent."

Any local order mandating masks is no longer valid, Abbott said. A local county judge may order restrictions if regional COVID-19 hospitalizations reach 15 percent.


Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/mask-mandate-ends-business-open-15994001.php
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Abbott ends Texas mask mandate, opens businesses '100 percent' (Original Post) brooklynite Mar 2021 OP
Ah, Texas. At the forefront of stupidity each and every time. LuckyLib Mar 2021 #1
Why does the Texas Governor hate Texans? NotHardly Mar 2021 #37
All Businesses Open! Roy Rolling Mar 2021 #47
Plus he WANTS there to be an explosion in Covid cases sandensea Mar 2021 #54
It's almost as if nitpicker Mar 2021 #69
Anything for money! sandensea Mar 2021 #73
Didn't Texas Do This Back In May 2020? How did that turn out? TomCADem Mar 2021 #43
The plateau we are experiencing is quite high. They'll have another spike. onecaliberal Mar 2021 #2
More transmission means more variants which put us all at risk. Irish_Dem Mar 2021 #4
I agree. onecaliberal Mar 2021 #14
Yeeeeee Haaaaaaaa,... magicarpet Mar 2021 #3
cominjg very soon, a new spike in texas. Javaman Mar 2021 #5
Build that wall. forgotmylogin Mar 2021 #55
Every time I see stories like this EarlG Mar 2021 #6
Those who consider Yellow Dog Democrats extremists need to understand---THIS is why they'd Atticus Mar 2021 #7
For sure, it's just that lately the "yellow dog" has voted to starve their children. onecaliberal Mar 2021 #17
Next up: remove all seatbelts from cars and traffic signage/signals from roads yonder Mar 2021 #8
Chronic illness and death also have a way of sidelining opportunity The Blue Flower Mar 2021 #9
Isn't Texas like 49th in vaccinations? Lol rkleinberger Mar 2021 #10
Hey! I'll have you know we're 48th! tanyev Mar 2021 #44
Liberal Texans would still wear masks IronLionZion Mar 2021 #11
Great, let the spring breakers go there Shanti Shanti Shanti Mar 2021 #12
Thanks. CCExile Mar 2021 #57
Oops, well, we dont want them in FL, lol Shanti Shanti Shanti Mar 2021 #61
How about getting everyone's water and electricity MineralMan Mar 2021 #13
Sigh. I am surrounded by stupid. n/t Laelth Mar 2021 #15
The GOOD texans need to get rid of this ASSHOLE!! bluestarone Mar 2021 #16
Fuck him. lark Mar 2021 #18
From #BlackoutAbbott The storm didn't kill enough Texans so let's try another tack. efhmc Mar 2021 #19
If you look at CovidActNow... regnaD kciN Mar 2021 #20
Thanks for that -- 8th highest in daily new cases per capita, with a 11.2% positivity rate (2nd high progree Mar 2021 #30
When you drive down the highway here in Texas, the Amber Alert Signs have a COVID RED alert cayugafalls Mar 2021 #58
Republicans murder with official impunity. dchill Mar 2021 #21
Well OldBaldy1701E Mar 2021 #22
8th worst state for new cases last week; 7th worst for deaths muriel_volestrangler Mar 2021 #23
anything to take attention off the grid Skittles Mar 2021 #24
Yep. dalton99a Mar 2021 #45
Plenty of us in Texas are smart enough to not trust Abbott with our health. Paladin Mar 2021 #25
Gov. Greg - moving from one disaster to another BlueIdaho Mar 2021 #26
Operation Distract!!! Hip2bSquare Mar 2021 #27
Premature, as usual. Lonestarblue Mar 2021 #28
I guess he's after those of us who didn't freeze to death. Comfortably_Numb Mar 2021 #29
Once again a Republican governor demonstrates mnhtnbb Mar 2021 #31
fuck texas rdking647 Mar 2021 #32
"Oh, they're all gonna die," EndlessWire Mar 2021 #33
So long, Big Stupid. Grokenstein Mar 2021 #34
NOW is the time to BUY STOCK in publicly traded funeral homes... NurseJackie Mar 2021 #35
damn ,time to get the ol'check book out. monkeyman1 Mar 2021 #68
Straight out of Lubbock! czarjak Mar 2021 #36
The stupidity of this cannot be overstated. Mickju Mar 2021 #38
Never going there....ever!! Thekaspervote Mar 2021 #39
Greg Abbott .. he's a simple son of a bitch. Bo Zarts Mar 2021 #40
This problem doesn't stay in TX (and sympathies to those of you *in* TX). Pobeka Mar 2021 #41
Coming to a theater near you, COVID III bucolic_frolic Mar 2021 #42
Make Texans, and those who spend time there after this, quarantine torius Mar 2021 #46
Based on personal observation while there rustysgurl Mar 2021 #48
Wholesale Darwin Awards BlueWavePsych Mar 2021 #49
Someone must have asked Abbott during the last power fiasco "How stupid can you get?" Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin Mar 2021 #50
I'm a Texan in the north Texas area. harumph Mar 2021 #51
I agree with this assessment Skittles Mar 2021 #59
Good luck folks twodogsbarking Mar 2021 #52
Well when your drinking water has to be boiled, and your electrical grid is just fucked up turbinetree Mar 2021 #53
Before we get to hurricane season we have spring and....... 7wo7rees Mar 2021 #64
Yepper spot on................ turbinetree Mar 2021 #72
just when start to gain on this shit ! monkeyman1 Mar 2021 #56
Yikes! Asshat. I got friends there, too. : ( electric_blue68 Mar 2021 #60
don't want to play by rule's - take fed money away .- simple monkeyman1 Mar 2021 #62
Goddamn, Greg Abbott is a fuckwit! LudwigPastorius Mar 2021 #63
like voteing for a houseplant monkeyman1 Mar 2021 #65
Would love to see the airlines... tonekat Mar 2021 #66
F&#CKING LOVE IT. GOOD ONE ! monkeyman1 Mar 2021 #67
Texas is a hot mess. So many state and local politicians need to be voted out FlyingPiggy Mar 2021 #70
Hopefully.. Maxheader Mar 2021 #71
I would hope that Abbott would clarify that ANY business TexasBushwhacker Mar 2021 #74
Abbott got his vaccine. Screw everyone else IronLionZion Mar 2021 #75
Sidelined from what? The "opportunity" to try out a ventilator? n/t Akoto Mar 2021 #76
I was wrong whistler162 Mar 2021 #77

Roy Rolling

(6,856 posts)
47. All Businesses Open!
Tue Mar 2, 2021, 07:54 PM
Mar 2021

Those with power, maybe. And those without water damage, or customers stuck at home fixing damage from the joys of deregulation.

Governor “Let me add some injury to your insult” Abbott strikes again.

sandensea

(21,530 posts)
54. Plus he WANTS there to be an explosion in Covid cases
Tue Mar 2, 2021, 08:53 PM
Mar 2021

They all do.

Somewhere in GOP servers, there must be a memo calling for "a million deaths by Labor Day - blame Biden no matter what."

nitpicker

(7,153 posts)
69. It's almost as if
Wed Mar 3, 2021, 07:53 AM
Mar 2021

The death industry contributed to his party so they could maintain the increase in business.

sandensea

(21,530 posts)
73. Anything for money!
Wed Mar 3, 2021, 01:08 PM
Mar 2021

Although in this case, it looks like more of a case of the GOP being a fifth column again - their favorite pastime.

They seem to have come to the conclusion that provoking a public health catastrophe "works" for them politically.

And they're acting on it alright.

TomCADem

(17,378 posts)
43. Didn't Texas Do This Back In May 2020? How did that turn out?
Tue Mar 2, 2021, 07:16 PM
Mar 2021

Republicans governors are once again betting with American lives. Last year, after cases started to drop in April, AZ, TX and FL Republican governors rushed to reopen betting that by reopening a bit early, they can help build goodwill with Trump for his reelection effort. Of course, this resulted in a summer wave and insured that COVID-19 continued to ping around the country all but ensuring a third wave during the holiday season.

Now, ironically, due to Democratic leadership, cases have begun to go down as people take precautions seriously and vaccines are distributed. However, Republicans are once again trying to prematurely open in the hopes of building credibility with the Republican base.

We can only hope that this does not cause too much damage, because this might not only start a fourth wave, but this increases the risk of new variants that might be vaccine resistant.

Of course, if this backfires, watch them all blame Democrats again.

May 2020:

https://www.texastribune.org/2020/05/15/texas-reopening-coronavirus-cases/

As Texas reopens, coronavirus cases are increasing while testing misses benchmarks

Two weeks have passed since Gov. Greg Abbott allowed Texas retail stores, restaurants, movie theaters, malls, museums and libraries to open at 25% capacity.

In that time, Texas has seen a modest but steady increase in the growth of new coronavirus cases, and the state is not meeting all benchmarks for reopening set by White House officials or even Abbott himself. The state set new daily records this week for both new cases and deaths.

State officials have pointed to other metrics, such as the continued availability of hospital beds and a gradually declining rate of tests coming back positive, as cause for optimism in the fight against the virus. And they say the state urgently needs to allow businesses to reopen to help millions of Texans who have lost jobs.

So far, “the state’s performance has been good,” said Peter Hotez, a preeminent infectious disease expert and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.


July 2020:

https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/texas-mask-mandate-gov-greg-abbott-executive-order/287-75207055-ec2d-4de1-9f97-732030863703

Gov. Greg Abbott issues statewide order requiring face masks in counties with 20 or more COVID-19 cases

Gov. Greg Abbott issued an order Thursday requiring all Texans residing in counties with more than 20 cases to wear a face mask while in a commercial space or public buildings or when in an outdoor setting that does not allow for 6 feet of physical distancing.

* * *
The move comes after weeks of surging daily COVID-19 cases and hospitalization in Texas.

On Wednesday, state health officials reported that Texas surpassed 8,000 single day cases for the first time.

In North Texas, Dallas and Tarrant counties crossed 600 single-day confirmed cases earlier in the week, and then Dallas County reported more than 700 on Thursday.

onecaliberal

(32,489 posts)
2. The plateau we are experiencing is quite high. They'll have another spike.
Tue Mar 2, 2021, 04:10 PM
Mar 2021

We need a commission to start looking into all of these people and how they allowed citizens to endanger the lives of others because reasons. I'm so sick of living in a country where stupid and evil people get to hold the rest of us hostage. Talk about a fucking shithole.

Javaman

(62,442 posts)
5. cominjg very soon, a new spike in texas.
Tue Mar 2, 2021, 04:11 PM
Mar 2021

he couldn't just wait till more people were vaccinated, could he.

asshole abbott.

EarlG

(21,894 posts)
6. Every time I see stories like this
Tue Mar 2, 2021, 04:12 PM
Mar 2021

I think of the joke someone made on DU a while back about a skydiver at 5,000 feet deciding to cut the cords on their parachute, reasoning that since it has already slowed their descent, they don't need it any more.

Atticus

(15,124 posts)
7. Those who consider Yellow Dog Democrats extremists need to understand---THIS is why they'd
Tue Mar 2, 2021, 04:14 PM
Mar 2021

"vote fer a yeller dog" with a "D" after its name before they'd EVER vote for a Republican.

yonder

(9,631 posts)
8. Next up: remove all seatbelts from cars and traffic signage/signals from roads
Tue Mar 2, 2021, 04:17 PM
Mar 2021

Freedumb, Lib-hurty and Justus.

IronLionZion

(45,261 posts)
11. Liberal Texans would still wear masks
Tue Mar 2, 2021, 04:28 PM
Mar 2021

and Dem mayors will have local mandates in their cities if they have the 15% hospitalization threshold. So it will disproportionately be GOPers breathing deep and infecting each other with freedom.

MineralMan

(146,192 posts)
13. How about getting everyone's water and electricity
Tue Mar 2, 2021, 04:30 PM
Mar 2021

turned back on and the damage repaired first, Gov. Abbot?

Jebus!

bluestarone

(16,722 posts)
16. The GOOD texans need to get rid of this ASSHOLE!!
Tue Mar 2, 2021, 04:33 PM
Mar 2021

How to DESTROY a state with ONE GOVERNOR. Some of these people just DO NOT learn a fucking thing. They followed him through a winter Armageddon, right into a pandemic Armageddon.

lark

(23,003 posts)
18. Fuck him.
Tue Mar 2, 2021, 04:34 PM
Mar 2021

My 94, 87 and 86 year old aunts and uncle need to be protected! I hope my cousins continue to wear masks and socially distance, especially to protect our elders there. My other elderly aunt is in WA, so I don't worry about her as much.

regnaD kciN

(26,035 posts)
20. If you look at CovidActNow...
Tue Mar 2, 2021, 04:35 PM
Mar 2021

...you’ll see that Texas is still one of the handful of states marked red (for “Critical - active outbreak”). In other words, even if most other states decided they could safely reopen (which they can’t), Texas should be keeping restrictions in place.

I wonder how long it will take for all the states next to Texas to go full red as well?

https://covidactnow.org/?s=1633574

progree

(10,864 posts)
30. Thanks for that -- 8th highest in daily new cases per capita, with a 11.2% positivity rate (2nd high
Tue Mar 2, 2021, 05:59 PM
Mar 2021

2nd highest test positivity rate.

Definitely not good.

cayugafalls

(5,631 posts)
58. When you drive down the highway here in Texas, the Amber Alert Signs have a COVID RED alert
Tue Mar 2, 2021, 10:04 PM
Mar 2021

message.

Abbott is a fool.

I'm being nice and insulting fools...

OldBaldy1701E

(4,968 posts)
22. Well
Tue Mar 2, 2021, 04:48 PM
Mar 2021

That should take care of a few rethugs. Maybe then Real Texans can finally get rid of the rethug stranglehold once and for all. (Breath... not holding it).

muriel_volestrangler

(101,155 posts)
23. 8th worst state for new cases last week; 7th worst for deaths
Tue Mar 2, 2021, 04:49 PM
Mar 2021
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html

A mask mandate does not "sideline" anyone from opportunity. Apart from lipreaders, perhaps.

Abbott: "Now, Texans have mastered daily habits to avoid getting COVID" - so how come so many are catching it, even with a mask mandate, dumbass?

Paladin

(28,204 posts)
25. Plenty of us in Texas are smart enough to not trust Abbott with our health.
Tue Mar 2, 2021, 05:06 PM
Mar 2021

We're grownups, who don't mind the minor inconvenience of mask-wearing. When medical authorities say it's OK, our masks and other precautions will be set aside.

Hey, I wasn't stupid enough to ever vote for Abbott---why would I trust him to deal properly with the Covid scourge?

Hip2bSquare

(291 posts)
27. Operation Distract!!!
Tue Mar 2, 2021, 05:10 PM
Mar 2021

Distract them with open bars and covid to take their minds off of having to boil their water.

Lonestarblue

(9,880 posts)
28. Premature, as usual.
Tue Mar 2, 2021, 05:11 PM
Mar 2021

Texas has a population of close to 30 million people. So far, 5,462,028 doses of vaccine have been administered, including both first and second doses, so around 17% have been vaccinated. I would think it safer to wait until around 40% have been vaccinated as Texas is still at very high risk of infection. But Republicans don’t care about people —just business and getting those sales tax dollars flowing into state coffers again.

Comfortably_Numb

(3,777 posts)
29. I guess he's after those of us who didn't freeze to death.
Tue Mar 2, 2021, 05:26 PM
Mar 2021

Now it’s going to be the wild Wild West again when it comes to confrontations with Texas covidiots...

Grokenstein

(5,707 posts)
34. So long, Big Stupid.
Tue Mar 2, 2021, 06:10 PM
Mar 2021

Let us know how much "opportunity" you got out of this before your last citizen kicks off.

NurseJackie

(42,862 posts)
35. NOW is the time to BUY STOCK in publicly traded funeral homes...
Tue Mar 2, 2021, 06:16 PM
Mar 2021

... and casket manufacturers, and vault manufacturers, and cremation services, and urn artisans, and embalming fluid chemical plants. Funerary hair and make-up artists will have a very merry Christmas!!

Bo Zarts

(25,371 posts)
40. Greg Abbott .. he's a simple son of a bitch.
Tue Mar 2, 2021, 06:53 PM
Mar 2021

Abbott is a simple-minded moron, or maybe even a moran, who is going to kill us all. A pox upon him and upon his GOP cronies.

Pobeka

(4,999 posts)
41. This problem doesn't stay in TX (and sympathies to those of you *in* TX).
Tue Mar 2, 2021, 06:57 PM
Mar 2021

People are on airplanes daily, flying in/out of TX, through other airport hubs etc. A blowup of cases in TX means a blowup of cases in other states as well. This S. African variant is nothing to be lightly dismissed. Holding mask mandates, restrictions in place could maybe allow us to at least stay "even" as we get more folks vaccinated, eventually finally getting ahead of COVID. Lifting restrictions is setting a match to a bundle of dry kindling under a bonfire.

bucolic_frolic

(42,677 posts)
42. Coming to a theater near you, COVID III
Tue Mar 2, 2021, 07:08 PM
Mar 2021

This is the time period where anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers drop like flies. Remain vigilant Libs. The promised land is straight ahead.

torius

(1,652 posts)
46. Make Texans, and those who spend time there after this, quarantine
Tue Mar 2, 2021, 07:52 PM
Mar 2021

if they leave the state. And watch them, make them stay in a hotel that they pay for, and do not let them leave for two weeks, as Hawaii has done.

rustysgurl

(1,040 posts)
48. Based on personal observation while there
Tue Mar 2, 2021, 07:56 PM
Mar 2021

this is going to get ugly. Masks were hit or miss depending where you went. Now they're going to be non-existent. My daughter and her boyfriend (who both worked in the service industry) haven't returned due to well ... idiots. They wash hands, mask, social distance and have basically been going nowhere for months now.

Wonder how long it will take for the case numbers to spike? Abbott and his ilk will do ANYTHING to get the spotlight off the electrical grid problems.

Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin

(107,111 posts)
50. Someone must have asked Abbott during the last power fiasco "How stupid can you get?"
Tue Mar 2, 2021, 08:31 PM
Mar 2021

Appears he's going to show us.

harumph

(1,871 posts)
51. I'm a Texan in the north Texas area.
Tue Mar 2, 2021, 08:34 PM
Mar 2021

Most of my neighbors are very careful to wear masks and likely will
continue to do so despite Abbot's rescinding of the mandate. I simply won't patronize businesses
where there are a non-trivial number of customers not wearing masks. IOW, this could affect
the bottom line for businesses if people just decide to abandon masks. Outside of the urban
areas in Jeezus country people never observed the mandate anyway.

Skittles

(152,966 posts)
59. I agree with this assessment
Tue Mar 2, 2021, 10:06 PM
Mar 2021

the people who listen to doctors and scientists will continue to wear masks; those who hump repuke politicians will not

turbinetree

(24,632 posts)
53. Well when your drinking water has to be boiled, and your electrical grid is just fucked up
Tue Mar 2, 2021, 08:48 PM
Mar 2021

Last edited Wed Mar 3, 2021, 08:49 AM - Edit history (1)

and you have Allen West running around the state wanting to just fucking leave the union, and your going into hurricane season, well why not just get everyone killed, just for the heck of it, and to deflect your meglomaniac narcissistic dreams of being a psychopath, so why not have more deflection...........its worked for over 20 years in your state and look at where your at on covid shots



https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/public-health/states-ranked-by-percentage-of-covid-19-vaccines-administered

7wo7rees

(5,128 posts)
64. Before we get to hurricane season we have spring and.......
Tue Mar 2, 2021, 11:47 PM
Mar 2021

Last edited Wed Mar 3, 2021, 02:31 PM - Edit history (1)

TORNADO season!! WooHoo!!

Abbott is a f'ing idiot/or not. Calculated move to create a new controversy to draw attention from the Republicans miserable failures to protect the power grid since the winter storm of 2011.
They learned then during "Super Bowl" week at Jerry Jones brand new stadium in Arlington that the grid needed to be winterized or it would happen again. Boy was that a mess and they've done nothing since.

 

monkeyman1

(5,109 posts)
56. just when start to gain on this shit !
Tue Mar 2, 2021, 09:40 PM
Mar 2021

damn abbott has got to be the most stupid sob on the planet ! he has the mentality of f#&cking donny !! well guess what , these jack-off republican's need to go period . end of the pos party. the grand ol' party is dead . when are people going get smart? over 300 charged in insurrection . for what ? donny the con -man . end of f&%king statement .

LudwigPastorius

(8,944 posts)
63. Goddamn, Greg Abbott is a fuckwit!
Tue Mar 2, 2021, 11:38 PM
Mar 2021

Every time I think that, "Gee...maybe saying Republicanism is a death cult is a bit hyperbolic", one of them goes and does something like this.

tonekat

(1,805 posts)
66. Would love to see the airlines...
Wed Mar 3, 2021, 12:36 AM
Mar 2021

...railroads, etc. just say; "Service has been discontinued to Texas due to the high contagion factor until further notice".

FlyingPiggy

(3,373 posts)
70. Texas is a hot mess. So many state and local politicians need to be voted out
Wed Mar 3, 2021, 08:03 AM
Mar 2021

I sure hope Texas remembers this.

TexasBushwhacker

(20,044 posts)
74. I would hope that Abbott would clarify that ANY business
Wed Mar 3, 2021, 03:41 PM
Mar 2021

has the right to refuse service to any person as long as it's not discriminatory. It's no different than "no shirt, no shoes, no service" or a fancy restaurant requiring a certain standard of dress. A business can also require their employees to wear masks, if they so choose.

I know the Texas grocery store HEB will require masks on its employees. I have a friend that works at Walmart that that's scared shitless. He isn't high risk, but his girlfriend has COPD. My niece works at Home Depot. I'm not happy about all this.

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