As Gov. Greg Abbott prepares to open Texas 100% to all businesses this Wednesday and end the statewide mask mandate, many of the state’s biggest cities say they will not go along fully.
However, responses from the leaders in the state’s rural areas are welcoming the changes on March 10.
The governor attributed his decision to the increased number of vaccinations and to the decreased number of COVID-19 hospitalizations.
Our World in Data showed on March 3 that only 7% of Texas’ total population has been fully vaccinated.
Hospitalization numbers show that on March 2 there were more than 5,600 COVID-19 patients hospitalized. But the lowest number was in mid-September 2020 when there were 3,000.
Lifting the restrictions may come with health risks, according to some city leaders.
Dallas mayor Eric Johnson said now is not the time to let down our guard.
“The people of Dallas should continue to mask up and take precautions to slow COVID-19’s spread and mutations,” Johnson said in a statement Tuesday. “We are getting closer to achieving herd immunity, and now is not the time to let down our guard.”
In Houston, several restaurants said they will continue with safety protocols and operate at 50% capacity as well as require staff and customers to wear masks.
“Every time we start moving in the right direction the governor steps in and sets us back and makes all of our jobs harder,” Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner tweeted on Tuesday. “He minimizes the sacrifices of people and businesses. I just don’t get it.”
Every time we start moving in the right direction the Governor steps in and sets us back and makes all of our jobs harder. He minimizes the sacrifices of people and businesses. I just don’t get it. st
— Sylvester Turner (@SylvesterTurner) March 2, 2021
But Abbott has said that Texans are anxious to get back to their regular routines, nearly one year after the COVID-19 restrictions were imposed. He said business owners can still continue to require masks and other safety measures.
“It’s their business, and they get to choose to operate their business the way they want to. At this time, however, people and businesses don’t need the state telling them how to operate,” he said.
Lubbock Mayor Dan Pope said he made the decision to close nonessential businesses last spring to flatten the curve. Now, as cases and hospitalizations have gone down in Lubbock, Pope believes it’s time to reopen.
“Masking and social distancing work, we’ve learned this,” Pope said. “I don’t know if the governor has got to require it for us to do it. We’re going to continue to reinforce how important that is but we also are glad we can get people back to work.
Pope says he hopes Texas Tech University students will continue following public health protocols in the coming months.
“Students have been in this as long as we have,” Pope said. “They know what slows the spread of COVID-19 and we would hope that our students and the businesses that they frequent will take those kinds of precautions that we’ve been taking the last 10 months to try to fight COVID-19.”
Odessa Mayor Javier Joven said the COVID-19 regulations have negatively impacted his constituents emotionally, physically and financially. He said the restrictions have caused West Texas businesses to lose customers and revenue or even close their doors in the past year.
“Here in Odessa we’ve experienced some long-term and short-term businesses closing permanently,” Joven said. “And there’s no reversing that.”
Joven said there is not enough evidence yet to support statewide COVID-19 restrictions going forward.
"We still had numbers increase at the peak when the mandate was ordered,” Joven said. “So I trust the citizens of Odessa will be adult enough to take care of their personal health."
Although the CDC continues to report that wearing a mask is an effective way to curb the spread of COVID-19, Joven said it’s too early to confirm the effectiveness of masks. The mayor believes his constituents should have the freedom to choose whether or not they want to wear a face mask.
“Those that wish will continue to wear the masks,” Joven said. “Those that feel it hasn’t helped them or they shouldn’t will stop immediately once March 10 comes around.”
The mandates will be officially lifted next Wednesday. Counties are able to impose their own restrictions if COVID-19 hospitalization rates rise above 15 percent for seven consecutive days, but those rules cannot be legally enforced by local officials.
Got a tip? Email Katya Bandouil at kbandouil@KERA.org. You can follow Katya on Twitter @kat372.
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