Texas to open 100%

[RamblingMad]

I don't understand why when we see such positive trends that they think they can immediately rescind all restrictions - it's only going to make things spike. We have the advantage now - press it!

Gotta let the old folk that had their shots eat out.

 

[ahutton]

I get my 2nd shot Friday. I'll keep wearing the mask as I've enjoyed not having assorted crud, and fewer allergy issues. To the poster who asked who can get the shot her, all first responders, medical workers, anyone 65+, anyone 16+ with a secondary condition. Asthma, other pulmonary, cardiac conditions, obese, chronic health concerns. You have to affirm you have one but we did not have to provide medical diagnosis.

 

[Micca]

I wish them the very best! If they are able to pull this off while keeping the virus under control, that would be good news for all of us.

 

[erin1715]

Mississippi just did the same thing.

 

[Gamedog]

Good.

Hopeful that more states will follow suit.

 

[Kitty 34]

Just because the mandate is lifted doesn’t mean people don’t still have the choice to mask up or even double mask if you believe that helps.

I totally agree with you but at least it's our choice. And with that said I'd probably still wear a mask in what I would feel an uncomfortable situation.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I have had one dose of the vaccine and I have already had Covid, so I am probably safe. I still don’t think that this is a good idea. There are supposed to be a lot more vaccinations in the next 6 weeks. Why can’t we wait 6 more weeks. Maybe the governor just wants us to forget about our major power failure during a freeze?

Hoping our governor stays the course here for us. I think he will.

 

[BlueStarryHat]

Welp...good luck with that one.

 

[Christine]

Hoping our governor stays the course here for us. I think he will.

Same here. My state, Virginia, did very well once restrictions were put in place. Cases/deaths went down and stayed pretty low. We spiked after the holidays, but seem very under control. Seem to be doing well, per capita, over Florida and Texas--or at least on the chart I'm looking at. We'd probably do even better if the weather wasn't so crappy here.

As I said upthread, it will be interesting to see how it goes, but I think their warm climate gives them more ability to do these things. It's also really tough to compare states who do have/don't have restrictions. State population and densities are all so varying. I think it's really hard for extremely dense/populace cities to ever do really well and some of the states who got hit hard early on last March because they were the entry sites to the virus, will never get their averages to trend down because that were walloped at the outset.

 

[Donaldswife]

Just because the mandate is lifted doesn’t mean people don’t still have the choice to mask up or even double mask if you believe that helps.

It also doesn't mean that individual businesses don't still have the choice to have their own mask mandate as well. That usually ends up not so well for the retail employees who have to deal with the ones who refuse.

Please, no matter what your stand is on masks, etc, be kind to retail and front line workers who are doing their jobs. If a company has a mask requirement either follow it or go elsewhere. Let's not have some of the ugliness that happened last year when companies began implementing them before the government did. I imagine there will still be many businesses that have this policy nationwide.

 

[soccerdad72]

Good luck, Texas

 

[lifesavacation]

On one hand, I'm happy things are opening up and becoming more "normal." On the other hand, I'm glad it's not my state. I'll be cheering Texas on and hoping all goes well.

 

[Dan Murphy]

A good chart, current as of today (regardless what the url says). Positivity rates are still a good measure.

www.beckershospitalreview.com/public-health/states-ranked-by-covid-19-test-positivity-rates-july-14.html

 

[sam_gordon]

A good chart, current as of today (regardless what the url says). Positivity rates are still a good measure.

www.beckershospitalreview.com/public-health/states-ranked-by-covid-19-test-positivity-rates-july-14.html

That has my state (KY) at 11.2%. The state website (https://govstatus.egov.com/kycovid19) has us under 5 (4.76%). The state website says the 4.76% is based on a 7 day rolling average.

That's a heck of a difference.

 

[MillauFr]

The cynic in me just says this is to divert the news cycle away from the power grid debacle a few weeks back.

 

[Christine]

A good chart, current as of today (regardless what the url says). Positivity rates are still a good measure.

www.beckershospitalreview.com/public-health/states-ranked-by-covid-19-test-positivity-rates-july-14.html

This site does seem to correspond to about the same rate that they are reporting on the local news.

 

[JimMIA]

Love it. I think Florida was the first

Nope. We still have mask mandates in most places, schools are a mix of in-person/virtual/etc, dining varies by county, etc.

 

[Forevermarypoppins]

Ok, so be it. Governors get to run their own states as they see fit and if the other half doesn't take issue.
In my state, the other half always wants to sue. It is curious, the timing, since just a few weeks ago, TX wasn't a place with any good news. Did the Gov have to do something?

Good Luck, Texans!

 

[AlohaNow]

Good night and good luck Texas!

 

[DLgal]

The cynic in me just says this is to divert the news cycle away from the power grid debacle a few weeks back.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

We have a winner.

Texas over there doing the most.