Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott on Tuesday announced he is lifting all coronavirus restrictions, despite the deadly virus surging across the Lone Star State.
“Too many Texans have been sidelined from employment opportunities. Too many small business owners have struggled to pay their bills. This must end,” Abbott said, according to The Dallas Morning News. “It is now time to open Texas 100%.”
“Also, I am ending the statewide mask mandate,” said the governor, fresh off a statewide crisis that threw millions into the freezing cold without power or water, almost as an afterthought. “Texans have mastered the habits to keep from getting COVID.”
Dallas County Health and Human Services Director Phil Huang is calling the move “premature.”
According to The New York Times, Texas ranks 48th in vaccine administration, meaning only two states (Georgia and Utah) have inoculated even fewer of its residents on a percentage basis.
It appears Abbott may be removing the protections for purely political reasons. On Monday night he tweeted out a new poll that shows his approval rating did not suffer despite the power grid disaster that led to dozens of deaths.
Some are tying the political decision to this weekend’s CPAC conference:
CNN on-air reports Houston is the first U.S. city to log all major variants to the coronavirus. Bloomberg News adds that Texas leads the nation in total COVID hospitalizations, and ranks number five (one being the worst) in per capita hospitalizations. (Hospitalization numbers as of March 2, 2021, 10:25 AM EST.)
The internet was stunned.
Journalist David Gura noted the pandemic in Texas is even worse than when Abbott finally invoked the COVID-19 restrictions.
Here’s what others are saying:
This article has been updated with additional statistics.