Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Tuesday issued an executive order that prohibits any government entity in the state from requiring its citizens to wear a face mask. Government entities and local officials who are caught imposing mask mandates will be fined up to $1,000. The executive order will go into effect on Friday.
"Anybody can wear a mask if they want to. It's just that it's a decision to be made by Texans, not to be forced by [the] government," Gov. Abbott, a 63 year old Republican governor who was first elected in 2014 and was re-elected in 2018, told CNBC.
However, the governor has different guidelines for schools. The executive order says that public schools in Texas may uphold their mask mandates until June 4. Afterwards, teachers, school staff, students, and visitors are no longer required to abide by mask mandates. This is in line with the state's decision to eliminate its mask mandates and lift restrictions on businesses in March.
Gov. Abbott reiterated in a tweet that "Texans, not government, should decide their best practices," meaning that it is up to an individual whether or not he or she would continue to wear a mask. Government entities and local officials under the new executive order must not impose any mask mandates on its citizens.
The new order comes after Gov. Abbott announced a new 13-month low in the number of COVID-19 cases, a new all-time low for the seven-day COVID-19 positivity rate, which is now at 3.74%, and a new 11-month low in COVID-19 hospitalizations, which he announced via Twitter on Monday. The state also reported no deaths from COVID-19 in the last two months.
"The Lone Star State continues to defeat COVID-19 through the use of widely-available vaccines, antibody therapeutic drugs, and safe practices utilized by Texans in our communities," Gov. Abbott said in the executive order. Last week, Texas reported that 20 million COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the state, with over 50% of eligible Texans 50% of eligible Texans. Texans aged 12 to 15 are also now eligible to get the vaccine.
Texas' success rate in combating COVID-19 has also caused the governor to announce that the state is opting out of federal unemployment benefits provided as part of the pandemic relief. Gov. Abbott announced Wednesday that "There are nearly 60% more jobs open in TX today than there [were] in February 2020, making these unemployment benefits no longer necessary."
On May 16, the CDC updated its mask mandates, saying that those who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 may "resume activities that you did prior to the pandemic." It loosened its restrictions on wearing a mask and social distancing, saying those who are fully vaccinated may relax with such mandates.
But according to Forbes, top infectious diseases authority Dr. Anthony Fauci believes many Americans are "misinterpreting" the new CDC guidelines, thinking that everyone is allowed to stop wearing face masks. Dr. Fauci, who has a history of flip-flopping with regards to mask use and has threatened to continue pushing for mask mandates well after COVID even if it is not backed by science or even goes against scientific proof, cautioned, "It did not explicitly say that unvaccinated people should abandon their masks."
