Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced Tuesday that he is ending the mandatory use of masks by residents and that he will allow all stores to reopen next week. Considering that the second most populous US state now has “the means to protect” its population from the pandemic of the new coronavirus.
«From next Wednesday, all stores of all kinds will be able to open and operate at 100% of their capacity“, Assured the governor in his decree which also puts an end to the” mandatory use of masks throughout the state “, a measure that was implemented from July 2020.
“Thanks to medical advances, vaccines and antibody treatments, Texas now has the means to protect Texans from the virus,” added Greg Abbott.
Yet, forbade punitive measures to be imposed on state residents if they do not cover their faces. However, he clarified that in some counties with high levels of hospital admissions some measures may be imposed.
The governor’s announcement came as Texas is still struggling to recover from a wave of bad weather that hit it last month, causing power and water outages that have hit thousands of households hard.
Mr. Abbott justified the sweeping lifting of the measures, reminding that tTexas, has advanced to 5.7 million vaccinations (out of a total population of 29 million).
According to the governor’s office, by the end of March any elderly resident who wants to be vaccinated will be able to.
More than 44,000 people have died from COVID-19 out of a total of 2.66 million cases of SARS-CoV-2, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Asked about the decision of the governor of Texas, the representative of the White House, Jen Psaki, reminded that President Joe Biden has clarified that the measures continue to be necessary. “We have to keep vigilant. “We are still at war with the virus, of course the president will continue to project this message to the citizens and in particular in his discussions,” said Ms. Psaki.
Doctors in Texas have expressed desperation for the governor’s announcement. “It’s desperate to be honest,” he said. Weiss Durani, an intensivist at San Antonio University Hospital. Dr. Durani, who treats patients with COVID-19 in his pandemic intensive care unit, added that he expects the lifting of the measures to “strengthen” those who oppose the use of masks and cause an increase in cases.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 51 million Americans, or 15% of the population, have received at least one dose of their vaccine.
The Abbott governor’s decree was issued as the number of cases in the United States as a whole decreased. An average of 68,240 cases of SARS-CoV-2 are recorded daily this week, a figure that corresponds to 27% of what was recorded at the peak of the pandemic on January 7th.
The country has so far recorded more than 28,680,000 new coronavirus infections and 513,721 deaths due to COVID-19.
In addition to Texas, authorities in Iowa, Mississippi, Montana and North Dakota have also lifted the mask requirement.
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