Texas Joins States That Have Relaxed COVID-19 Measures

AUSTIN, Texas, USA (AP) – Texas became the nation’s largest state to end the order to wear face masks in public on Tuesday, joining a growing group of governors and other leaders across the country. width of the United States that reduce the restrictions implemented by the coronavirus pandemic, despite the exhortations of the health authorities not to lower their guard yet.

The Lone Star state will also suspend limits on the number of diners restaurants can serve indoors, said Gov. Greg Abbott, who made the announcement at a Lubbock restaurant.

The governors of Michigan, Mississippi and Louisiana also eased restrictions on bars, restaurants and other businesses on Tuesday, as did the mayor of San Francisco.

“Lifting mandates at the state level does not end individual responsibility,” said Abbott, speaking from a crowded restaurant where many of those around him were not wearing masks. “Only now the state orders are no longer needed.”

A year after the crisis began, both politicians and ordinary Americans have grown weary of the restrictions put in place to slow the spread of the coronavirus, which has caused more than half a million deaths in the United States. Some places are removing control measures, while in others people are ignoring them.

Top health authorities, including the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), have responded to such actions by pleading that people are not exposed to another deadly wave of infections just when the nation is advancing in vaccination and victory over the epidemic is on the horizon.

The nation’s reported cases have dropped more than 70% in the past two months, after averaging nearly 250,000 new infections a day, while the average daily death has fallen 40% since mid-January.

But the two curves have steadily stabilized in recent days and even picked up slightly, and the numbers of cases and deaths remain at alarmingly high levels, averaging about 2,000 deaths and 68,000 infections a day. And health authorities are increasingly concerned about variants of the virus.

“We risk completely losing our hard-won ground,” warned CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky on Monday.

Still, many Americans are fed up with the lockdowns that have affected their livelihoods and are eager to get back to socializing.

A bar in the greater Indianapolis area was packed with customers who did not wear masks on the weekend. In Southern California, people waited in lines winding through a parking lot to shop and eat at Downtown Disney, a part of the Disneyland complex (though the amusement park remains closed). And Florida is getting ready to host students for Spring Break.

“People want to be safe, but at the same time, the fatigue has been felt,” said Ryan Luke, who is hosting an event for the weekend in Eagle, Idaho, to encourage people to frequent businesses that they do not require masks. “We just want to lead an almost normal life.”

___

Associated Press reporters Brendan Farrington in Tallahasee, Florida; Anila Yoganathan in Tucker, Georgia; Emily Wagster Pettus in Jackson, Mississippi; John Flesher in Traverse City, Michigan; Heather Hollingsworth in Mission, Kansas; Rebecca Boone in Boise, Idaho; Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar in Washington; Melinda Deslatte in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Janie Har in San Francisco, and David Eggert in Lansing, Michigan, contributed to this report.

–