Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who has been criticized for not moving aggressively to contain the coronavirus that is rampaging his state, changed course Thursday and made wearing masks public in any county with 20 or more cases.
“Wearing a covered face in public has been shown to be one of the most effective ways to reduce the spread of COVID-19,” Abbott said in a statement announcing his executive order. “We have the ability to keep business open and move our economy forward so that Texans can continue to earn a salary, but it requires each of us to do our part to protect each other, and that means wearing a mask in public spaces “
“We can both delay the spread of COVID-19 and keep Texas open for business,” he said.
Abbott’s order comes as Texas health officials reported 8,231 new cases of COVID-19, which is the second highest daily total recorded in the state, and 45 deaths, according to an NBC News count.
Since the pandemic began, 175,039 Texans have been infected and 2,524 have died from the virus, statistics show. And 70,877 of those cases were reported in the past two weeks.
Allied with President Donald Trump, the Republican governor had been reluctant to impose mandates across the state and left it up to local authorities to decide how they wanted to deal with the crisis.
But as the number of cases began to increase last month and hospital officials warned that it might not have enough beds for sick patients, Abbott pressed the pause button on the state’s plans to reopen and close bars and other businesses that they attract crowds.
“As I said from the beginning, if the positivity rate were to rise above 10%, the State of Texas would take further steps to mitigate the spread of COVID-19,” Abbott said in a statement. “Right now, it’s clear that the increase in cases is largely due to certain types of activities, including Texans who congregate in bars.”
