GREAT NEWS for Texas - Mar 2

[dan_s]

Gov. Greg Abbott announced Tuesday he is lifting the state’s coronavirus restrictions, as vaccinations rise and severe infections from the pandemic decline.

“Too many small business owners have struggled to pay their bills,” he said, sounding celebratory. “This must end. It is now time to open Texas 100 percent.”

The rollback will begin next Wednesday, March 10 with businesses across the state able to open at full capacity. Abbott’s statewide mask mandate is also being lifted. Both measures quickly drew concerns from the public health community.

MY TAKE: If you don't agree you are FREE TO KEEP WEARING YOUR MASK. AMERICA IS ALL ABOUT FREEDOM.

Under the changes, local officials can impose limited restrictions again if their hospitalizations from COVID-19 rise above 15 percent for at least a week. Businesses will also be able to require their own safety standards for employees and customers.

“This does not remove personal responsibility,” Abbott said. “Personal vigilance is still needed to contain COVID. It’s just that now, state mandates are no longer needed.”

The announcement comes as Abbott is under new scrutiny from statewide power outages last month, which contributed to dozens of deaths and left millions of Texans without power or water for days. Local officials are still waiting to see whether the blackouts, which forced many households to shelter with friends and family, could lead to new coronavirus outbreaks.

The move also follows rollbacks in several other states, with vaccine doses becoming more widely available. Nearly 20 percent of the nation’s adults have received at least one shot, and 10 percent have been fully vaccinated 2 1/2 months into the nationwide campaign, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In Texas, more than 3.5 million people have received at least one dose, and nearly 2 million have been fully vaccinated, out of a population of 29 million. The state ranks among the lowest for the percentage of people vaccinated, at 13 percent. Hospitalizations from the disease have meanwhile fallen by more than half from their high over 14,000 in January.