Abbott ends Texas mask mandate, opens businesses '100 percent'
Source: Houston Chronicle
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Any local order mandating masks is no longer valid, Abbott said.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
LuckyLib
(6,814 posts)NotHardly
(1,062 posts)Roy Rolling
(6,856 posts)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)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)The death industry contributed to his party so they could maintain the increase in business.
sandensea
(21,530 posts)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)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/
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 states 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 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)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.
Irish_Dem
(45,640 posts)onecaliberal
(32,489 posts)magicarpet
(13,941 posts)..here comes the next rampant outbreak of Covid in Texas.
Javaman
(62,442 posts)he couldn't just wait till more people were vaccinated, could he.
asshole abbott.
forgotmylogin
(7,496 posts)I hear Texas will pay for it.
EarlG
(21,894 posts)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)"vote fer a yeller dog" with a "D" after its name before they'd EVER vote for a Republican.
onecaliberal
(32,489 posts)yonder
(9,631 posts)Freedumb, Lib-hurty and Justus.
The Blue Flower
(5,420 posts)For those who don't know.
rkleinberger
(155 posts)tanyev
(42,360 posts)*sigh*. We suck.
IronLionZion
(45,261 posts)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.
Shanti Shanti Shanti
(12,047 posts)CCExile
(456 posts)I live in Corpus Christi.
Shanti Shanti Shanti
(12,047 posts)MineralMan
(146,192 posts)turned back on and the damage repaired first, Gov. Abbot?
Jebus!
Laelth
(32,017 posts)-Laelth
bluestarone
(16,722 posts)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)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.
efhmc
(14,709 posts)regnaD kciN
(26,035 posts)...youll 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 cant), 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)2nd highest test positivity rate.
Definitely not good.
cayugafalls
(5,631 posts)message.
Abbott is a fool.
I'm being nice and insulting fools...
dchill
(38,324 posts)OldBaldy1701E
(4,968 posts)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)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?
Skittles
(152,966 posts)the man is an absolute piece of shit
Paladin
(28,204 posts)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?
BlueIdaho
(13,582 posts)What the hell does he have against Texans?
Hip2bSquare
(291 posts)Distract them with open bars and covid to take their minds off of having to boil their water.
Lonestarblue
(9,880 posts)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 dont care about people just business and getting those sales tax dollars flowing into state coffers again.
Comfortably_Numb
(3,777 posts)Now its going to be the wild Wild West again when it comes to confrontations with Texas covidiots...
mnhtnbb
(31,319 posts)having $hit for brains.
rdking647
(5,113 posts)2 weeks ago the weather tried to kill texans.
today abbot is doing the same thing.
EndlessWire
(6,377 posts)said Richard Dreyfus, "Jaws."
Grokenstein
(5,707 posts)Let us know how much "opportunity" you got out of this before your last citizen kicks off.
NurseJackie
(42,862 posts)... 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!!
monkeyman1
(5,109 posts)czarjak
(11,194 posts)Mickju
(1,794 posts)Thekaspervote
(32,606 posts)Bo Zarts
(25,371 posts)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)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)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)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)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.
BlueWavePsych
(2,634 posts)Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin
(107,111 posts)Appears he's going to show us.
harumph
(1,871 posts)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)the people who listen to doctors and scientists will continue to wear masks; those who hump repuke politicians will not
twodogsbarking
(9,308 posts)'cause that is all ya got.
turbinetree
(24,632 posts)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)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.
turbinetree
(24,632 posts)monkeyman1
(5,109 posts)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 .
electric_blue68
(14,623 posts)monkeyman1
(5,109 posts)LudwigPastorius
(8,944 posts)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.
monkeyman1
(5,109 posts)tonekat
(1,805 posts)...railroads, etc. just say; "Service has been discontinued to Texas due to the high contagion factor until further notice".
monkeyman1
(5,109 posts)FlyingPiggy
(3,373 posts)I sure hope Texas remembers this.
Maxheader
(4,366 posts)People will continue to mask..distance...
TexasBushwhacker
(20,044 posts)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.
IronLionZion
(45,261 posts)Cue the Hunger Games. May the odds be ever in your favor.
Akoto
(4,261 posts)whistler162
(11,155 posts)I always thought Costello was supposed to play the idiot sidekick to Abbott!