Governor, have you no conscience on COVID?
When Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced Tuesday he would lift all COVID-19 restrictions — opening Texas 100 percent and ending mask mandates — he was excited, almost gleeful. But there is nothing to celebrate when COVID-19 has killed more than 43,000 Texans, including more than 2,600 Bexar County residents. “COVID sure as hell ain’t over,” Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff said of Abbott’s announcement. “He stripped everything. It’s going to spread. People are going to die.” Never have we so wished that Wolff is proved wrong, but this is too much, too fast, too soon. Vaccine distribution is lagging, new variants are spreading, and Spring Break and Easter are on the horizon. Abbott often fails to lead. If hospitals fill up in April, he owns this.
Here is a reality check: San Antonio and Bexar County are still begging for more vaccines. Texas deaths from COVID-19, disproportionately affecting people of color, are averaging 200 per day. “We will continue to grieve for all who have suffered through this pandemic, and we will always mourn the loss of all lives,” Abbott said.
Will we, governor? How can we have time to grieve when the COVID-19 funerals haven’t yet ended? How can we truly grieve if it’s not safe to attend those funerals?
We’re with San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg, who reflected: “You don’t cut off your parachute just as you’ve slowed your descent.”
We knew this decision was imminent. Abbott had teased it on Twitter and in public comments. Local officials had sent Abbott a letter urging him to maintain mask mandates in advance of this announcement. But the timing is interesting, if not cynical. We are no longer talking about widespread power outages in Texas.
Each time cities and counties have made progress in the fight against COVID-19, Abbott has prematurely weakened and overruled local mandates. But Abbott hasn’t opened Texas this much; he’s never been so reckless. Perhaps he would argue he is being optimistic.
Abbott, who has been vaccinated, said that by next Wednesday — the day Texas opens — 7 million vaccines will have been administered. He said hospitalizations for COVID-19 and Tuesday’s 9 percent positivity rate are the lowest in four months. Of course, there was no real testing during the arctic blast when Texans were shivering without power. Texans are struggling to schedule vaccines. Out of 29 million Texans, only 13 percent have received at least one shot, according to Bloomberg’s vaccine tracker. This is no time to remove our masks — to crowd into businesses, restaurants and bars without protection.
Just below a link to Abbott’s executive order on the Department of State Health Services website was a link to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website — for “the latest developments on COVID-19.” The CDC guidance hasn’t changed: “Protect yourself and others against COVID-19 by wearing a mask, staying at least six feet apart, avoiding crowds, washing your hands, and getting vaccinated when it’s available to you.”
Now, that messaging is muddled. There is a certain argument, one Abbott invoked, that doing away with mandates strengthens freedom, but masks don’t inhibit freedom. They just reduce risk for everyone, therefore expanding freedom. This announcement comes on the heels of the embarrassing humanitarian crisis that froze Texas, cutting off power and water, and claiming lives. U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-san Antonio, called Abbott’s decision “reckless and dangerous and a desperate distraction from the Governor’s dereliction of duty during the power outages,” adding, “he’s putting politics above the people of Texas.” Abbott said he knew that “some local officials are concerned that opening up the state 100 percent could lead to a worsening of COVID in their communities.” And he said his order left room for limited local COVID mitigation strategies if hospitalizations due to the virus in any hospital region climbs above 15 percent of capacity for seven straight days. But this is reactive and toothless. There are no penalties for people or businesses who defy these restrictions.
Abbott made his announcement on Texas Independence Day at Montelongo’s Mexican Restaurant in Lubbock — far away from major media. How distasteful. The people who are making the enchiladas and bussing tables are at greater risk. Hospitals, get ready. There is nothing to celebrate.