Abbott hints he’ll soon reopen Texas bars
Gov. Greg Abbott said on Monday that he will soon allow more business to open amid the coronavirus pandemic, though he did not provide a timeline or any other details.
“Texans have continued to keep COVID under control,” the Republican governor tweeted, adding that all indicators of the size of the outbreak in Texas are looking good.
In a likely hint that bars will be among those able to reopen, the governor ended his message with, “Cheers!” and a GIF of two beer glasses clinking.
The announcement comes as Abbott is under increasing pressure from factions within his own party to fully reopen the state. Some have sued the governor over the closures, and a protest that is slated to include a number of prominent Republicans is planned for this Saturday in Austin.
Two of the indicators the governor pointed to in his message — COVID-19 fatalities and the rate of people testing positive for the disease — are now fluid numbers in the state’s tracking database, meaning the values they show today are likely to change as more complete data comes in over the coming weeks. That makes them less valuable for tracking the current status of the pandemic.
The number of people hospitalized COVID and the number of newdaily infections has mostly leveled off in recent weeks at levels much lower than during the surge this summer, but well above where they were this spring, before businesses began reopening.
Abbott ordered bars to close in July as infections soared. At the time, he pointed to bars as a likely source of spread, and has struggled to find a solution in the months since that will allow them to safely reopen without leading to new outbreaks.