On Tuesday, March 2, Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced the cancellation of an eight-month statewide mandatory mask order and required the opening of all commercial facilities. On the same day, Mississippi announced that it was following Texas’ lead and enacting the same ordinance.
Texas Governor Abbott said in a speech to the Labrecq Chamber of Commerce at a Monte Longo restaurant, “With medical advances in vaccines and antibody therapeutics, Texas now has the tools to protect Texans from viruses. Now we must restore livelihoods and normalcy for Texans by opening 100 percent of Texas businesses.”
He announced that as of March 3, passenger capacity will resume at all Texas places of business. And he said that all businesses and households have the right to determine for themselves the level of precautions they should take.
Abbott said, “Today’s announcement does not abandon the Epidemic preparedness practices that Texans have mastered over the past year. Rather, it is a reminder that each individual has a role to play in their own personal safety and the safety of others. With this executive order, we are ensuring that all businesses and families in Texas are free to determine their own Destiny.”
Abbott’s new order states that if any of the 22 hospital areas in Texas has a COVID-19 (Central Common Virus) hospitalization rate that exceeds 15 percent of the area’s bed capacity for seven consecutive days, the county judge may use a different strategy to address the situation. He said he does not think that threshold will be met.
The full economic opening decree comes after Texas experienced a rare snowstorm that left people with a power and water crisis and extreme weather that killed dozens of people. Last Friday (Feb. 26), President Joe Biden traveled to Texas to visit the disaster.
Following the Texas decree, Mississippi declared it would follow Texas’ lead and reopen all operations in the state and lift the mandatory mask requirement.
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves tweeted, “Starting tomorrow, we will lift mandatory mask requirements in all of our counties and businesses will be able to operate at full capacity without the ban. Our hospitalizations and case counts have dropped dramatically and vaccines are being distributed rapidly. It’s Time!”
After the outbreak, Florida adopted a large degree of open business premises directive and took precautionary measures, and the U.S. industry noted that the outbreak curve in New York City and California, which adopted a strict lockdown regime, did not appear more controlled compared to Florida’s outbreak data.
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