Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order Thursday requiring residents across the state to wear a face-covering in public spaces in counties with 20 or more positive Covid-19 cases.
“Wearing a face covering in public is proven to be one of the most effective ways we have to slow the spread of COVID-19,” Abbott said in a press release.
“We have the ability to keep businesses open and move our economy forward so that Texans can continue to earn a paycheck, but it requires each of us to do our part to protect one another â and that means wearing a face-covering in public spaces,” he added.
The decision was made because the percent of total tests coming back positive and the hospitalization rate both increased too much, Abbott said.
Texas now has more daily coronavirus cases than Italy when it was a global epicenter of the pandemic.
— Julián Castro (@JulianCastro) July 1, 2020
Want to know why there is an uncontrolled covid outbreak in Texas, with record number of cases, hospitalizations and (soon) deaths? Because Dan Patrick leads a death cult that Abbott, Cornyn and company are too scared to stand up to. https://t.co/gUdXEPmdCe
— Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) July 1, 2020