On Tuesday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed an executive order lifting mask mandates for public schools as the state celebrated having zero deaths from COVID-19 for the first time in over a year.
The executive order, which will go into effect June 5, bans mandatory mask mandates imposed by city and county governments and public school districts. Violations of the order can result in public officials receiving a $1,000 fine.
"The Lone Star State continues to defeat COVID-19 through the use of widely-available vaccines, antibody therapeutic drugs, and safe practices utilized by Texans in our communities," Abbott said in a statement.
"Texans, not government, should decide their best health practices, which is why masks will not be mandated by public school districts or government entities," he continued. "We can continue to mitigate COVID-19 while defending Texans' liberty to choose whether or not they mask up."
On Sunday, Abbott tweeted that the state saw zero COVID 19-related deaths for the first time since the data was initially tracked in March 2020. Additional reports included the fewest COVID cases in 13 months, the lowest seven-day positivity rate, and the lowest number of COVID-related hospitalizations in 11 months.
In March, Abbott rescinded the state's mask mandate, and in the following month, he issued an executed order banning all government-mandated vaccine passports in the state.
At the time, President Joe Biden criticized the move to lift mask mandates, calling it "Neanderthal thinking."
"I think it's a big mistake," Biden told reporters. "Look, I hope everybody's realized by now, these masks make a difference. We are on the cusp of being able to fundamentally change the nature of this disease because of the way with which we're able to get vaccines in people's arms.
"We've been able to move that all the way up to the end of May to have enough for every American, to get every adult American to get a shot," he added.
Photo credit: Unsplash/Pete Alexopoulos
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.
