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Texas and Mississippi lift mask mandates, open businesses at 100%
About time or too soon?
Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced on Tuesday that Texans will no longer have the state’s mandatory mask mandate, and all businesses will be able to open indoors at full capacity starting next week.
Gov. Abbott’s order, introduced on Texas Independence Day, will forbid local jurisdictions from penalizing residents for not wearing a face covering.
“So today, I’m issuing a new executive order that rescinds most of the earlier executive orders,” Abbott said. “Effective next Wednesday, all businesses of any type are allowed to open 100%. That includes any type of entity in Texas. Also, I’m ending the statewide mask mandate.”
“Today’s announcement does not abandon the safe practices that Texans have mastered over the past year,” Abbott said. “Instead, it’s a reminder that each person has their own role to play in their own personal safety as well as in the safety of others. It’s a reminder that individual safety is managed every day as a matter of personal responsibility rather than by government mandate. Individual responsibility is a corollary to individual freedom, we can have both.”
Texas has indeed seen a sharp plunge in cases and hospitalizations in recent weeks. Gov. Abbott says his executive order has…