Governor Abbott to Rescind COVID-19 State Mandates

In a press conference on Tuesday, Governor Greg Abbott announced that he will be rescinding most of his COVID-19-related statewide mandates next week. This will include expanding capacities at all Texas businesses to 100%, and allowing his statewide mask order to expire, on Wednesday, March 10.
 
The governor cited positive trends in active cases, positivity rates and hospitalizations — as well as the ramp-up in vaccine distribution to as many as 1 million shots administered per week — as the basis for his decision. While the statewide mandates are set to expire, Gov. Abbott urged Texans to continue taking precautions to keep themselves and others safe.
 
His latest order also allows for county-level restrictions. Specifically, if a Trauma Service Area sees COVID-19-related hospitalizations above 15% for seven consecutive days, county judges will have the ability to issue limited orders of their own to fight back against the spike. As a reminder, our own Trauma Service Area that covers much of North Texas hit that milestone in early December 2020, but was able to roll back enhanced restrictions two weeks ago on Tuesday, Feb. 16.