Texas Gov. Greg Abbott lifts COVID-19 mask mandate, allows businesses to open at 100%
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Reopening Texas
On Tuesday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declared that the state will be 100% open come March 10. Here’s what Tarrant County residents need to know.
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Gov. Greg Abbott says it’s time to reopen businesses in Texas and remove the state’s mask mandate.
“It is now time to open Texas 100%,” Abbott said in Lubbock, joined by Lubbock business leaders at Montelongo’s Mexican Restaurant. “Everybody who wants to work should have the opportunity. Every business that wants to be open should be open.”
Abbott pointed to the state’s “abundance” of personal protective equipment, testing capabilities and antibody therapeutic drugs to treat the virus as reasons why businesses can fully reopen. He also maintained “Texans have mastered the daily habits to avoid getting COVID.”
“But most importantly, now in Texas and across the country, we now have vaccines,” Abbott said. “Vaccines to protect Texans from COVID-19.”
Less than 7% of Texans have been fully vaccinated, and health experts and local officials — including Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley — say it’s too soon for Abbott to remove restrictions.
Before Abbott’s announcement, Whitley said he hoped the governor would wait until after spring break to rescind the order because of the potential to surge cases.
But, Whitley could not have it his way.
“The governor’s the governor, and he has the right to do whatever he wants to do,” Whitley said.
Whitley removed Tarrant County’s mask mandate, effective immediately, in light of Abbott’s order.
The judge also pointed out that there was no consultation or communication with him or the commissioner’s court about the announcement.
Abbott’s regular updates on guidelines for business operations have slowed since October, when he issued an executive order permitting most businesses to operate at 75% capacity. There are some exceptions, such as salons, where there’s no occupancy limit but there are health guidelines. Bars, which are open in Tarrant County, can operate at 50% capacity with county judge approval.
The rollback of business operations is triggered by an area’s COVID hospitalization rate.
Effective March 10, “all businesses of any type” can open at full capacity, Abbott said Tuesday. The mask mandate will also be lifted March 10.
Abbott’s order requiring the use of face coverings statewide has been in effect since July. At that time, he said face coverings were a necessary step to keep businesses open.
“Personal vigilance to follow the safe standards is still needed to contain COVID-19,” Abbott said. “It’s just that now state mandates are no longer needed.”
Businesses can still establish capacity limits and additional safety measures, Abbott said. Additionally, in counties located in trauma service areas with high COVID hospitalizations, county judges may use “COVID-19-related mitigation strategies.” But those strategies can’t require a business to operate at less that 50% of capacity. A county judge also can’t require someone be jailed for violating a COVID-19 order or issue a penalty for not wearing masks.
COVID-19 cases, vaccinations in Texas
The number of new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in Texas have trended downward since peaking in January, but have generally flattened in the last several days.
The Texas Department of State Health Services on Tuesday reported 6,613 new confirmed cases of the virus. The state reported Tuesday that roughly 2 million people are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 — 6.8% of Texans.
Ahead of his news conference, Abbott touted that Texas on Tuesday would report “a new one day record for the number of people receiving vaccines — more than 216,000.”
“Announcements will be made this week about the opening up of additional categories of people for vaccines,” Abbott said in an interview with radio host Chad Hasty of Lubbock after his announcement.
It’s premature to roll back COVID-19 rules, said Dr. Peter Hotez, a vaccine expert and dean for the National School of Tropical Medicine in the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.
“The science says we can vaccinate our way out of this epidemic, and I think in time, as people start getting vaccinated, what will likely happen is that will allow masks to come off, for instance.” Hotez told Houston’s KHOU. “Not right now. We don’t have the full evidence base for it, but it’s moving in that direction.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended masks be worn in public settings as a barrier against respiratory droplets that could spread COVID-19.
Stephen Love, president and CEO of the DFW Hospital Council, called Abbott’s decision to remove the mask mandate “very unfortunate.” It could increase community spread and create variants to the virus.
“Wearing masks can help the economy recover by slowing the spread of the infection in businesses such as restaurants and bars,” Love said in a statement. “Through our efforts to wear masks, physical distance and wash hands, we have decreased the infections, hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19 in North Texas over the past six weeks. Let’s not reverse this trend.”
History shows local officials are limited in their ability to go against Abbott’s executive orders related business operations.
In El Paso, County Judge Ricardo Samaniego tried to go beyond Abbott’s order as the community grappled with spiking COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. El Paso County was sued by Texas after closing non-essential businesses. Ultimately a state appellate court sided with Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office, and El Paso’s non-essential businesses were allowed to remain open.
“If conduct is allowed under the Governor’s order, that County cannot prohibit it,” an order from Texas’ Eighth Court of Appeals reads. “If activities are prohibited by the Governor’s order, the County cannot allow them.”
The Texas Supreme Court sided with the state after Austin and Travis County tried to close dine-in food and beverage services from 10:30 p.m. to 6 a.m. from Dec. 31 through Jan. 3.
Responses to Abbott’s announcement
Vinny Taneja, Tarrant County’s public health director, said there is no science or evidence that indicates that it’s time to let go of masks.
Regardless of any order, people should continue to wear masks, not only for themselves but for the people around them.
“This is the right thing to do for your family, for your friends, for your neighbors,” Taneja said.
Fort Worth’s mask order will expire Tuesday (March 2), Mayor Betsy Price said in a prepared statement, noting that “normalcy is on the horizon” but “we are not not out of the woods just yet.”
Ahead of his Tuesday announcement at least two lawmakers wrote to Abbott asking the state’s face cover requirement remain in place.
The letters from State Rep. Richard Peña Raymond, D-Laredo, State Rep. Vikki Goodwin, D-Austin, expressed concerns over COVID-19 variants that are highly transmissible. Repealing the order will cause more coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths, the letters read.
“As the coronavirus pandemic continues to afflict the state, we must remain vigilant in addressing and containing the virus through coordinated, carefully considered action,” Raymond said in his March 1 letter. “To that end, your commitment to upholding as mask mandate is essential.”
Chris Turner, a Grand Prairie Democrat who chairs the House Democratic Caucus, said Abbott is trying to distract from the recent power grid failure during a winter storm.
“The fastest way we can all get back to normal is to listen to the director of the CDC, who just said that ‘now is not the time to relax restrictions,’ ” Turner said. “If the last year has taught us anything, it is that we need to listen to doctors and scientists more, not less.”
House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, called Abbott’s announcement an “important step.”
“I also appreciate that there are safeguards in place to prevent spread from increasing as the state reopens,” Phelan said “The past year has been difficult for all Texas families, and there is now hope that we will defeat and eradicate COVID-19.”
The Texas Association of Business cheered Abbott’s announcement.
“One year into dealing with COVID-19, organizations understand what protocols they must implement to function safely, and TAB knows Texas companies will operate responsibly,” CEO Glenn Hamer said in a prepared statement.
State Rep. Jeff Cason, R-Bedford, said he was pleased with Abbott’s order and vowed to “ensure shutdowns can never happen again without legislative approval.”
“The Texas shutdown has cost our state jobs and impeded the liberty of all Texans,” Cason said on Twitter.
State Rep. Charlie Geren, a Fort Worth Republican and president of Railhead Smokehouse, said he’d been in meetings and hadn’t yet had a chance to review Abbott’s order or press conference. But when told businesses could open at full capacity, Geren said he thinks it’s “wonderful.”
“We’ll be moving furniture back in soon,” he said.
Staff Writer Brian Lopez contributed to this report.
This story was originally published March 2, 2021 at 1:50 PM.
