Hundreds of Texas bar owners promise to reopen Saturday in violation of a state order established in June when the coronavirus began to emerge in Lone Star State.
About 800 barkeeps say they will defy Governor Greg Abbott’s order and participate in what they call “Freedom Fest,” according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Chris Polone, owner of The Rail Club Live in Fort Worth, told the newspaper that he organized Freedom Fest and wants the state to allow bars to operate with established security measures.
“If you can get every bar to stand up in solidarity, well, that’s a statement that will not be ignored,” Polone said.
He said the water wells participating in Saturday’s event must follow safety protocols, including the requirement that customers wear face covers.
Texas moved to reopen its economy quickly after the COVID-19 crisis, but then saw an increase in cases.
Abbott said he regretted moving too fast to allow bars to serve again.
“If I could go back and redo something, it probably would have been slowing down the opening of the bars, now looking at how fast the coronavirus spread in the bar configuration,” Abbott said in an interview in June.
8,701 new cases of coronavirus were reported in Texas on Friday and 196 deaths, according to the state health department.
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