California’s Democratic governor Gavin Newsom rebuked his Texas counterpart, Republican governor Greg Abbott, for lifting coronavirus restrictions across the state, saying it was “absolutely reckless,” Politico reports.
Abbott rolled back all restrictions in Texas Tuesday, saying that all businesses and schools were permitted to open and no masks would be required in gatherings. Abbott cited the availability of vaccines as a reason for rescinding the rules, even though Texas is in the bottom ten percent of states regarding the percentages of citizens inoculated.
After a disastrous two weeks when millions in his state lost power during a prolonged cold snap, resulting in dozens of people dying, Abbott may be looking for a PR win by lifting the regulations.
President Joe Biden has encouraged Americans to wear masks through his first 100 days in office to stem the spread of the coronavirus. Echoing CDC guidance, Biden also noted that hand washing, social distancing and mask wearing should be practiced even after getting inoculations because scientists are not sure of the infection patterns with new virus variant.