The governors of both Texas and Mississippi have announced that their states will dissolve their mask mandates. Both governors cited increased vaccinations and reduced hospitalizations as reasons for the dissolution of the mandate.
With the resindication of the mask mandate in Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott also stated “all businesses of any type are allowed to open one-hundred percent”.
In Mississippi, Gov. Tate Reeves replaced the mask mandates with “recommendations” instead. He also is allowing all businesses to open fully, however indoor areas will still be limited to half capacity and rules regarding K-12 schools will remain unchanged.
The two Republican governors ended the mandates for economic reasons as well. Citing the downfall of local businesses, the two governors are looking towards “personal responsibility” when addressing the pandemic rather than the use of mandates,
The end of the mask mandates didn’t miss CDC Director Rochelle Walensky. They cautioned against these rollbacks, stating “Things are tenuous. Now is not the time to relax restrictions”.
While both states have seen decreases in Covid cases, with an 18% decrease in Texas and a 27% decrease in Mississippi, Covid remains prevalent. There are still about 7,625 new cases in Texas every day and 582 every day in Mississippi.
Gov. Reeves admits that there will still be new cases every day even while rolling back the mask mandate. “We continue to see new cases of the virus every day, just like we see new cases of the flu every day,” Reeves stated.
Amidst these rollbacks, President Joe Biden announced that the US will have enough vaccines for “every adult” by May, about two months after Texas and Mississippi rollback their mask mandates.