The Texas Attorney General on Wednesday threatened to sue officials in Austin and Travis County for not lifting local mask mandates. The announcement comes after Governor Greg Abbott signed an implementing decree last week to lift statewide mask mandate, despite warnings from health officials about reopening prematurely amid corona pandemic
The governor’s executive order, which went into effect Wednesday, also lifted capacity restrictions on the state’s businesses. It allowed local officials to impose “mitigation strategies” as hospital admissions increase, but it prohibited them from punishing residents who defy the covert guidance and limiting business capacity to less than 50%. Private companies may still require masks on their property, but are no longer required, according to the governor.
Despite Abbot’s executive order, Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a letter Wednesday that officials in the city of Austin – and the county where the country is located – stated that “local orders requiring individuals to wear face masks outside their home will continue unabated. He addressed the letter to Travis County Judge Andy Brown and Austin Mayor Steve Adler, both have said local mask mandates remain in effect.
“The decision to require masks or otherwise impose COVID-19-related usage limits is expressly reserved for private companies on their own premises,” said Paxton. “It doesn’t fall under jurisdictions like the City of Austin or Travis County or their local health authorities. They also don’t have the authority to threaten fines for non-compliance.”
Paxton said officials had until 6:00 p.m. Wednesday to “revoke any local mask mandates or corporate restrictions, revoke all related public statements, and fully comply with [the executive order]
“Otherwise, I’ll sue you on behalf of the State of Texas,” he said.
In response to Paxton’s letter, Mayor Adler said he and Brown “would fight Governor Abbott and Attorney General Paxton’s attack on doctors and data for as long as possible.”
“Wearing masks is arguably the most important thing we can do to slow the spread of COVID-19, further open schools to more students for personal learning, and open more and more businesses while minimizing the risk of withdrawal. , ‘Said Adler.
Abbott’s executive order was immediately criticized after it was announced. Health officials have been urging local leaders for weeks not to reopen too soon, given the daily number of cases and the number of new COVID-19 variants
“Please hear me clearly: at this level of cases, with variants spreading, we will completely lose the hard-earned ground we have gained. These variants pose a very real threat to our people and our progress,” said CDC Director Rochelle Walensky the day before Abbott announced his order.
“Now is not the time to relax the critical precautions that we know can stop the spread of COVID-19 in our communities,” Walensky added.
Shortly after Abbott announced his order, President Biden said he did “Neanderthal thinking” to believe that “meanwhile everything is okay, take off your masks”.
“I hope everyone realizes by now that these masks make a difference,” Mr. Biden said. “We’re about to fundamentally change the nature of this disease because of how we can get vaccines into people’s arms. May have enough for every American to give every adult American a chance. The latter,” The last thing we need is for the Neanderthals to think that by now everything is okay, take off your masks, forget it. It still matters. ”
In announcing his executive order, Abbott noted a sharp drop in the number of day-to-day cases due to an increase over the holidays, and said the number of cases was at its lowest point since November. But even at that point, COVID-19 cases were still at alarming levels, and Abbott opposed calls to take tougher preventive action.
Last Wednesday, Texas reported more than 2.3 million cases of the virus and more than 44,000 deaths, according to data from the state health service.
Alexander Tin and Kathryn Watson contributed to the reporting.