Mask Mandates Revoked in Texas, Mississippi, as COVID-19 Related Deaths Top 525,000
Photo Courtesy of Wisconsin Public Radio
By Chris Carey
Mere weeks after the United States hit 500,000 deaths related to the coronavirus pandemic, a number of state governors across the Union are reducing or completely removing restrictions on masks, indoor gatherings, and general business practices implemented in 2020 to halt the advance of the deadly disease.
On Tuesday, March 2, Governor of Texas Greg Abbott announced that “all businesses, of any type” could reopen to normal, pre-coronavirus pandemic operations, on Wednesday, March 10.
The announcement of the new executive order from the Governor has removed the requirements for capacity limiting in most businesses, as well as the personal mask mandate. According to the order, restaurants will operate at 75% of capacity in indoor dining situations, and bars will operate at 50% capacity. Bars are also restricted from serving customers after 11 p.m.
Regarding the mask mandate, which is no longer punishable or enforceable even in local jurisdictions where cases spike, Governor Abbott acknowledged the care that Texans must still take, saying, “personal vigilance to follow the safe standards is still needed to contain COVID. It’s just that now, state mandates are no longer needed.”
This decision has been met with pushback both in the Lone Star State and nationwide. Chair of the Texas Democratic Party Gilberto Hinojosa said, “by removing all previous state mandates and opening the state to 100 percent, Governor Abbott, who has never taken this pandemic seriously, is doing what he does best: leaving Texans to fend for themselves.”
President Biden lashed out at Texas for its change in policy, as well as Mississippi, Florida, and now numerous other states without mask mandates, saying, “the last thing we need is Neanderthal thinking that, in the meantime, everything’s fine, take off your mask, forget it.”
President Biden spent most of his campaign during the pandemic stressing the need to wear face masks and listen to CDC mandates and suggestions, unlike President Trump who was reluctant to adopt mask mandates at the beginning of the pandemic and did little to encourage widespread mask usage.
Although the sentiment of President Biden’s words was based on the need to protect one another through healthy preventative steps to spreading the virus, pundits and former White House officials have pointed out the possible poor word choice in observing that the largely red states were engaging in “Neanderthal thinking.”
Tony Fratto, a deputy press secretary during George W. Bush’s administration criticized the language, saying, “no question, it was the wrong language.”
Now, only time will tell whether the decision to remove the mandate in these states will lead to an increase in cases and deaths; however, many residents and municipalities are continuing their mask usage and mandates, ensuring that everything possible is being done to save lives.
Wear your mask, keep your distance, because as President Biden said, “it still matters.”
