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 Abbott's executive order also bars other local government entities
in the state from continuing to require face coverings beginning on
Friday, echoing a similar move earlier this month by fellow
Republican Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida.
Abbott said Texas was making strides against the COVID-19 pandemic
through vaccinations, antibody therapeutics and voluntary
health-safety practices, leaving government mask requirements no
longer necessary.
"We can continue to mitigate COVID-19 while defending Texans'
liberty to choose whether or not they mask up," he said in a
statement announcing the executive order.
Abbott and many other Republican politicians have cast mask mandates
as an imposition on personal freedoms, though they grudgingly
required face coverings at the height of the pandemic as
hospitalizations and deaths surged out of control.
Texas lifted its state-imposed mask mandate 10 weeks ago when the
crisis began to ebb. The state then sued officials in Austin, the
Texas capital, for refusing to go along with the lifting of those
restrictions.
Tuesday's order marked an escalation in Abbott's determination to
force other local governments to align with his no-mask policy at
the state level.
It also puts Texas at odds with the latest CDC guidance recommending
students in schools across the United States wear masks for the
2020-2021 academic year because not all will have been inoculated
against the coronavirus when in-classroom instruction resumes.
The action in Texas comes as states across the country have moved to
end or relax compulsory mask-wearing in most other public places, in
accordance with CDC guidelines in recent weeks. Those
recommendations reflect a steady decline in coronavirus infections,
hospital admissions and mortality as the U.S. vaccination campaign
gains momentum.
[to top of second column] |
 New York Governor Andrew Cuomo
announced on Monday his state will drop face
mask requirements in most public spaces for
vaccinated individuals, while fellow Democratic
Governor Gavin Newsom of California said he
would keep his mask order in place for another
month.
But most governors who have discarded mask
mandates at the state level have allowed local
governments, school districts and businesses to
exercise discretion in choosing when and how to
ease their own requirements.
Texas, the second-most populous state in the nation, now becomes the
most aggressive in steering away from masks altogether.
Beginning Friday, local governments or officials attempting to
impose a mask mandate or other restriction in defiance of Abbott's
latest executive order would be subject to fines of up to $1,000.
Public school districts have been given more time to comply, but
after June 4, "no student, teacher, parent or other staff member of
visitor can be required to wear a mask while on campus," his
announcement said.
Regardless of what government mandates are in place, a new Ipsos
poll conducted for Reuters over the weekend shows more than half of
Americans expressing a reluctance to quickly return to normal
pre-pandemic behavior.
Of those surveyed, just 17% said they intended to swiftly get back
to their previous routines. Another 28% said they already were doing
so, a figure that included 42% of Republicans polled.
(Reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Karishma
Singh)
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