Texas continues to reopen as COVID-19 cases hit record, governor urges safety procedures
AUSTIN - There are 2,622 new cases of COVID-19 in Texas on Tuesday.
It is a new single-day high for our state. In a press conference earlier today Governor Greg Abbott, broke down the numbers and mentioned that many of the new cases are from the fact that more people are going out and being social.
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“The reality is COVID-19 still exists in Texas. It exists in the United States as well across the entire world, and this is going to continue to be the case for at least a few more months until we have medicines that are able to treat people who test positive for COVID-19, and until we have medicines that are able to prevent people from getting COVID-19.“ said Governor Abbott.
He assured the public that despite a record high of new COVID-19 cases that there are about 15,000 hospital beds available across the state, for those who need it. Right now less than 10% of Texans who have tested positive need treatment in a hospital.
The influx of numbers we were told was due to a large number of test results coming back at the same time, positive results from congregate settings such as nursing homes and jails, and also due to people under the age of 30 who were out socializing.
Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission said they are going to crack down on businesses that are violating the order by going over the capacity stated and not enforcing social distancing. They said they will suspend an establishments liquor license for 30 days for the first offense. 60 days for the second.
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Gov. Abbott says county officials need to do a better job at regulating these businesses.
“The county judge, whether it be the county judge in Dallas or elsewhere, they do have the ability to impose fines, not for face masks but for other strategies. For example the types of gatherings that people gather at in certain locations, they may not be in compliance with the protocols and hence would be subject to fines.”
Mayors across the state, including Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner have addressed a letter to Gov. Abbott, asking him to give them the power to make it a requirement that people wear masks in public. Abbott says individuals shouldn’t be penalized.
“So all of us have a collective responsibility to educate the public that wearing a mask is the best thing to do. Putting people in jail, however, is the wrong approach for this thing.”
Gov. Abbott wants to continue with re-opening our state so people can get back to work but stressed that we need to keep practicing all that we have learned, such as wearing a mask, social distancing, and keeping your hands sanitized.