Shortly after the United States exceeded half a million deaths from the coronavirus, governors of the two southern states announced that they would be lifting covid restrictions on Tuesday.
What We Know:
- Texas Gov. Greg Abbot announced Tuesday afternoon during a news conference in Lubbock that the state’s public mask requirements would be lifted. All businesses can open at full capacity beginning on March 10th. “It is now time to open Texas 100%,” he said.
- That same day Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves announced he would be lifting his state’s mask mandate effective Wednesday. Businesses would also be allowed to open with no restrictions.
Starting tomorrow, we are lifting all of our county mask mandates and businesses will be able to operate at full capacity without any state-imposed rules. Our hospitalizations and case numbers have plummeted, and the vaccine is being rapidly distributed. It is time!
— Tate Reeves (@tatereeves) March 2, 2021
- He added in later tweets that “we are putting our focus towards rapid vaccine distribution” and “getting out of the business of telling people what they can and can not do.” Mississippi has suffered over 6,000 covid deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.
- These announcements come after CDC director Rochelle Walensky warned against the relaxing of restrictions. “Now is not the time to stop wearing a mask,” she said, speaking to NPR. “The CDC squarely recommends routine masking, routine social distancing right now. . . . it squarely does not fit within the guidance that we are recommending,” Walensky continued, in reference to the announcements by Abbot and Reeves.
- According to data collected by the CDC, over 80 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine have been administered across the country. The number of infections and deaths has steadily fallen over the last 30 days as more doses of the vaccine become available to the public.
35 states in the U.S., along with the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, still require masks to be worn in public. By lifting its mandate, Texas, with a population of 29 million, became the largest state to end the rule aimed directly at stopping the spread of the coronavirus.
