Texas is done with Covid; I hope Covid is done with Texas.
https://twitter.com/PatrickSvitek/status/1366837879352291347
Abbott ending business restrictions can surely be argued, but there’s just no good substantive reason to end the mask mandate, unless accompanied by clear messaging that it’s still a strongly urged voluntary measure until herd immunity is reached.
Lockdowns are brutal; masks are just annoying. Even given uncertainty, the probable benefit-to-cost ratio is better than perhaps any other measure except vaccines. It’s stupid to participate in tribalizing it, which Abbott seems to be doing.
To be clear, I don’t think a state mandate was the best way to achieve masking in the first place. Since it’s effectively a civic honor code, why not treat it as such? But it’s the measure Abbott chose, and the reason it was needed hasn’t changed.
Forcing businesses to remain starved through the summer is an agonizing choice I can really see a case for no longer having Texas enforce. Masking sucks but it is not remotely in that category of pain, and it’s nuts that it’s been lumped in with shutdowns.
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