A pair of GOP governors on Friday moved to impose new mitigation measures in their states amid record numbers of new coronavirus infections, with both Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ordering bars closed and Texas placing new restrictions on other businesses the governor said were linked to the virus's resurgence.
Texas and Florida are among around a dozen other states that have hit the brakes on reopening their economies amid a resurgence of the virus across the South and West affecting more than half of the states in the country.
That both governors — who are close allies of President Donald Trump and were criticized for resisting calls to lock down their states in the pandemic's early days — have not only pressed pause on reopening but reimposed some restrictions, speaks to the severity of the outbreaks in two of the most populous states in the country.
The country as a whole on Thursday registered another single-day record of more than 39,000 new infections, with fears that hospitalizations and the nationwide death toll could soon follow. The new spikes come as the White House has attempted to play down the increase and press forward with reopening the economy after coming to a standstill for months this spring.
Signs are emerging, however, that the White House has begun to take the threat more seriously, with its coronavirus task force set to hold its first public briefing since April 27.
Abbott said in a statement Friday that his decision came after Texas exceeded a 10 percent positivity rate for coronavirus tests. The state reported nearly 6,000 new confirmed cases of coronavirus on Thursday, a new daily record.
According to Abbott’s orders, bars must close by Friday at noon local time, though they will be allowed to conduct curbside service, and restaurants will be restricted to 50 percent capacity for dine-in service beginning Monday. The order also mandates the closure of rafting and tubing businesses and requires that outdoor gatherings of more than 100 be approved by local governments.
“At this time, it is clear that the rise in cases is largely driven by certain types of activities, including Texans congregating in bars,” Abbott said, adding that he hoped the new restrictions would be as “limited in duration as possible.”
The move came less than 24 hours after Abbott ordered a pause on the state’s reopening process, which began in May. The Texas governor on Thursday also halted elective surgeries in a handful of counties and backed down from an earlier directive that banned cities and counties from mandating residents wear face masks in public.
DeSantis, meanwhile, had indicated that he had no plans to move Florida into its next phase of reopening, while local hot spots weighed their own shutdowns and mask requirements. But the state added nearly 9,000 new cases Thursday, shattering and nearly doubling its previous one-day record set only days earlier.
Abbott and DeSantis joined nearly a dozen other states that over the last week or so have begun to scale back reopening due to the new surge. On Thursday Gov. Doug Ducey of Arizona, which is among those seeing the highest increase in new infections, announced that the state’s reopening process would also be halted.
Abbott's move came after the mayor of Austin, Democrat Steve Adler, criticized the governor's plan to merely pause the reopening process.
“The path we’re on right now is the path that right now has us in danger,” he told CNN. “We need to do something that’s different than that. We need our people in our community here to act differently. The status quo will not protect us.”
Adler on Friday blamed the coronavirus’ comeback in Texas on a variety of factors, including a lack of adequate testing capacity and tracing capabilities and a failure to analyze new data as the reopening process unfolded.
But the “big thing … is that the community, when you open up an economy, has to couple that with religiously wearing face masks and religiously maintaining social distancing,” Adler said. “That has to be part of opening up the economy, and that’s something that did not happen here."
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Texas, Florida governors order bars closed, imposes new restrictions as cases surge - POLITICO
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