Even as COVID Cases Spike in Texas, Governor Says Students Won’t Face New Mask Mandates in the Fall
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Gov. says he will not impose another statewide mask mandate, despite COVID-19 cases being on the rise again.
鈥淭here will be no mask mandate imposed, and the reasons for that are very clear,鈥� Abbott on Tuesday. 鈥淭here are so many people who have immunities to COVID, whether it be through the vaccination, whether it be through their own exposure and their recovery from it, which would be acquired immunity.鈥�
It would be 鈥渋nappropriate to require people who already have immunity to wear a mask,鈥� Abbott said.
During a news conference Wednesday in Houston, Abbott went further and expressed blanket resistance to any new restrictions to fight the virus. He said Texas is 鈥減ast the time of government mandates鈥� and 鈥渋nto the time for personal responsibility.鈥�
While the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says fully vaccinated people do not need to , the World Health Organization is still encouraging everyone to wear masks while inside.
As the delta variant has spread, have increased in Texas. Late last week, the state鈥檚 positivity rate 鈥� the ratio of cases to tests 鈥� went above 10% for the first time since February, a threshold that Abbott has previously identified as dangerous.
As of Sunday, 43% of Texans were fully vaccinated.
Abbott in March. The mandate had been in place since summer of last year.
Two months later, he he was banning government entities 鈥� including public schools 鈥� from mandating masks. Abbott reiterated Tuesday that Texas schoolchildren will not face mask requirements as they return to school later this summer.
鈥淜ids will not be forced by government or by schools to wear masks in school,鈥� Abbott said. 鈥淭hey can by parental choice wear a mask, but there will be no government mandate requiring masks.鈥�
Patrick Svitek is the primary political correspondent for , the only member-supported, digital-first, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
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