When Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) announced earlier this month that he was opening up his state to 100% capacity and canceling mask mandates, the left was frightened by this demonstration of ‘urge personal responsibility. President Joe Biden even addressed Abbott for his “Neanderthal thinking,” while later presenting a demonstration of unity in his March 11 speech to the nation, saying his administration “worked with … red i blue states “.
NEW: Issue an executive order to raise the mandate of the mask and open Texas to 100%. pic.twitter.com/P4UywmWeuN
– Governor Greg Abbott (@GovAbbott) March 2, 2021
Abbott himself acknowledged, with more emphasis, in his statement that he partly said:
Make no mistake, COVID-19 is not gone, but it follows from the recoveries, vaccinations, reduced hospitalizations, and safe practices that jeans are using that state mandates are no longer needed. Today’s announcement doesn’t abandon the safe practices that jeans have dominated over the past year. Instead, it is a reminder that each person has a role to play in their own personal safety and that of others.
Abbott’s statement also referred to Texas being in the lowest cases. The number of cases also continues to fall. US News & World Report has continuously covered a decline in cases in Texas, through updates from Johns Hopkins. There was an increase in cases from Friday the 13th to Saturday the 14th of March, but follow-up coverage from the 16th and 18th of March pointed to a downward trend.
“However, the rotating average of new cases reported in Texas over the past two weeks has dropped 3,078 a day, a decrease of 39.7%, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University,” it reported on March 16, in terms of the number of cases in Texas exceed 4,000.
“Researchers also said the rotating average of new daily cases has dropped by 2,695 cases over the past two weeks, a 37% reduction,” it was reported on March 18.
While the headline of March 14, The Dallas Morning News of “Texas reports more than 2,300 new cases of COVID-19 as Tarrant county adds 22 deaths” highlights cases and deaths, the caption still acknowledges that “state cases and deaths have declined in the past two weeks” . It is also mentioned that:
According to Johns Hopkins data, the seven-day averages of new cases and deaths in Texas have declined over the past two weeks since Saturday.
The average number of new cases fell from 7,964 daily on February 25 to 4,648 on March 11, while the average number of deaths fell from 220.6 to 168.9 per day during the same period.
It is possible that this article will focus on how Texas has the third highest death toll, but it is key to note that it is the second most populous state in the country. California has experienced the highest number of deaths, while New York has experienced the second highest number of deaths. The three states are among the most populous states in the country, although California, under the leadership of Governor Gavin Newsom, which is facing a withdrawal effort and collapsed by Abbott’s announcement, has had the strictest closures.
Again, it is worth emphasizing that the virus is not over. Show me where Abbott claimed. But we are moving forward. People get vaccines and cases are declining, including in Texas. We welcome it and act like that.
As referenced in the aforementioned reports, Johns Hopkins provides data on these trends, including that of Texas.
The initial goal that was considered was to flatten the curve, after all. Right?