Coronavirus: Texas Halts Economy Reopening Amid Growing Illness

AUSTIN, TX — Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday put the brakes on his multi-phased reopening of the state economy amid record-setting levels of new cases of the coronavirus and related hospitalizations.

In an advisory, the governor said he would temporarily pause further plans to open Texas amid the growing illness scourge. In doing so, he stopped short of ordering the shutdown of businesses already reopened at his direction — albeit at limited occupancy levels — that launched May 1 under Phase I of his Open Texas initiative. The remainder of his Open Texas initiative largely involved expanding allowable occupancy levels for those businesses already allowed to re-open their doors — including bars and restaurants.

Phase II of the economic re-ignition would follow by mid-May, allowing for an upped 50 percent occupancy for restaurants, malls and movie theaters and allowing for reopening of additional businesses and activities — aquariums; bars; bowling alleys; bingo halls; child care centers; massage and personal-care centers; natural caverns; professional sports without in-house spectators; rodeo and equestrian events; simulcast racing; skating rinks; youth camps; and zoos. A third phase of business reopening kicked off June 3.

Since those executive orders — implemented in spite of health officials' guidelines related to the effective tactic of physical distancing to help blunt the spread of illness — cases of the respiratory illness have soared to record levels. On Wednesday, Texas Department of State Health Services officials logged an all-time high 5,551 new cases of respiratory illness — the biggest single-day spike on record for Texas. Rates have nearly doubled in the past ten days, according to the data.

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Correspondingly, a record-setting 4,389 total hospitalizations were recorded the same day in a spike of nearly 300 with an increase of 10.42 percent on the seven-day positivity rate — the highest since April 17, and above the threshold Abbott used as justifying barometer in having previously started the economic reopening.

Abbott acknowledged the resurgence of the coronavirus during a news conference on Monday — more than 11,000 cases in two days alone at one point — but shifted the focus to his assessment of ample hospital bed availability to handle the influx of newly diagnosed patients. Even while acknowledging the record levels of illness in the past few days, Abbott vowed not to shut the state down again: "Closing down Texas again will always be the last option."

The governor wore a fabric face covering for the first time at this week's news conference, telegraphing the stark reality of the ongoing illness surge. "To state the obvious, COVID-19 is now spreading at an unacceptable rate in Texas, and it must be corralled," he said. "We must find ways to return to our daily routines as well as finding ways to coexist with COVID-19."

In Thursday's action pausing the multi-phased economy reopening, businesses that are permitted to open under the previous phases can continue to operate at the designated occupancy levels, and under the minimum standard health protocols provided by the Texas Department of State Health Services, Abbott explained.

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“As we experience an increase in both positive COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, we are focused on strategies that slow the spread of this virus while also allowing Texans to continue earning a paycheck to support their families,” Abbott said. “The last thing we want to do as a state is go backwards and close down businesses."

He used the rodeo nomenclature again in describing his latest attempt to curb the illness: "This temporary pause will help our state corral the spread until we can safely enter the next phase of opening our state for business," he said. "I ask all Texans to do their part to slow the spread of COVID-19 by wearing a mask, washing their hands regularly, and socially distancing from others. The more that we all follow these guidelines, the safer our state will be and the more we can open up Texas for business.”

Under his "Open Texas" initiative that began on May 1 — when malls, movie theaters and restaurants were allowed to reopen at limited capacity — the governor laid out a schedule detailing the types of businesses that could reopen in phases. The most recent third phase of reopening launched on June 3 allowed the following enterprises to reopen:

• Amusement Park Operators
• Amusement Park Visitors
• Fine Arts Performance Halls
• Fine Arts Performance Hall Patrons
• Media Production
• Outdoor Events
• Valet Parking
• Video Game Facilities

Abbott has been criticized for his handling of the pandemic, beginning with his early reopening of the state economy on May 1 — among the earliest such moves in the nation as other governors delayed the economic jump start.

While he has lately been recommending the use of fabric face coverings amid illness spikes, Abbott previously made their use voluntary — extolling the virtues of "personal responsibility" even as health officials pointed to the step as one of the most effective tools to blunt the spread of illness amid pandemic. In waiving the mandatory requirement to wear masks, Abbott warned mayors and county judges across the state not to implement punitive measures to violators given his superseding executive order.

"We make clear that no jurisdiction can impose any type of penalty or fine," Abbott said in declaring mask wearing as an optional tactic on April 27. "My executive order, it supersedes local orders, with regard to any type of fine or penalty for anyone not wearing a mask."

Meanwhile, local officials grappled with ways to manage the growing scourge mistakenly believing their enforcement authority had been stripped given the governor's executive order relaxing mask-wearing rules. In neighboring San Antonio, Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff took a chance in his efforts to contain the illness with the issuance of more robust requirements. To wide surprise, the governor's office told reporters Wolff's actions did not run afoul of the order — adding that municipalities all along had the power to enforce mask wearing of businesses, if not individual residents,

The governor's response ushered in a spate of resurrected ordinances at cities across the state with more rigid rules on the wearing of face coverings. But by the time Wolff essentially cracked the code of the governor's order, 50 days allowing for voluntary compliance had elapsed per Abbott's directive. Locally created ordinances now contain the threat of trespassing charges to those not wearing masks upon entering enterprises catering to the public — an enforcement power cities and counties had unwittingly retained even though it was not specifically detailed in the governor's orders on making their use voluntary.

Texas Monthly took Abbott to task for his cryptic executive order: "A riddle, like the one the Sphinx offered Oedipus. And Wolff had solved it."

The governor saw the development decidedly differently: "Earlier today the county judge in Bexar County finally figured that out," Abbott told a Waco TV station referencing the county judge, as reported by Texas Monthly. "They finally read what we had written."

Given the recent spikes in illness, the governor's stance on mask wearing now appears decidedly different: "When you go out, you should wear a face covering or mask," Abbott said during his news conference on Monday. "I also know that wearing a mask will help us keep Texas open."