Gov. Greg Abbott made the announcement on Tuesday of this week that Texas is open for business, 100 percent, and there are no restrictions on how many people can be in one place and that there is no mask mandate. Texas abhors government interference in personal affairs and, in general, government regulations. This is what gave them an unregulated, market-driven energy market. How did that work out? FYI, the last count on Tuesday was that there were still 200,000 people with "boil water" orders in Texas.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has urged governments to not lift restrictions — yet. There are a number of good reasons for that. One is that while vaccines and vaccinations continue to ramp up, more contagious variants of the disease are also spreading in the United States. If you recall, the projection was that by the end of March, the English variant will be dominant in the U.S. There is also the Brazil variant that is spreading and in Brazil, people are being re-infected with the variant even after surviving a previous case of COVID-19.
It is obvious that the governor of Texas, and I'll add Mississippi, who also gave the "open for business" order, are ignoring public health and medical recommendations. In Texas, Gov. Abbott is putting the burden on the individual to choose what is right for them.
Which brings me to what is meant by "public health." Several definitions:
- relating to, or being in the service of, the community or nation
- relating to business or community interests as opposed to private affairs
- devoted to the general or national welfare
We'll see what happens by the end of March and into April. Watch the case counts, hospitalizations and deaths in Texas and Mississippi. The question might just be, "How's that working for you?"