德克萨斯州州长格雷格·艾伯特(Greg Abbott)公开了他结束州口罩禁令的决定，强调他仍然敦促居民采取预防措施，但德克萨斯州人“不再需要政府管理我们的生活”。
3月10日，德克萨斯州的面具订单将结束，企业可以满负荷重新开业，雅培周二宣布。
在一个周四接受美国广播公司休斯顿站KTRK采访雅培表示，这一决定“是我们所看到的数据的产物。”
艾伯特说，周四标志着自10月以来最低的阳性率和住院人数。他补充说，超过50%的65岁及以上的德州人至少注射过一次疫苗。
LM奥特罗/美联社
2021年3月3日，达拉斯，无面具的人们聚集在一家商店外。德克萨斯正在揭开它的面具
埃里克·盖伊/美联社
202年3月3日，一个要求佩戴口罩的标志出现在河边散步的餐馆附近
“所有的指标都在朝着正确的方向发展，”他告诉KTRK。“这些数字足以让人们重返工作岗位，敞开心扉，回归常态，尤其是对我们的孩子和学校而言，同时确保人们遵循最佳实践。”
“我们仍在敦促人们继续戴口罩，”艾伯特说。
蒙提尼克·门罗/盖蒂影像公司
2021年3月3日，德克萨斯州奥斯汀，行人走在南国会大道上。格雷格·艾伯特州长
在…面前包括美国总统乔·拜登和安东尼·福奇在内的许多人对他的决定表示强烈反对，艾伯特承认，“在这个问题上永远不会有统一的协议。”
州长补充说，“如果企业觉得开放不安全，就不应该要求他们这样做。”
艾伯特强调，“我们不再需要政府来管理我们的生活。相反，每个人都必须继续承担自己的个人责任，采取他们已经掌握的行动，以确保他们不会感染新冠肺炎。”
盖蒂图像，文件
德克萨斯州州长格雷格·艾伯特在奥斯汀的新闻发布会上发言。
拜登周三称艾伯特的裁决为“尼安德特人思维”
拜登在椭圆形办公室对记者说:“我希望现在每个人都意识到了这些面具的重要性。”。
拜登说:“我们最不需要的是尼安德特人认为，与此同时，‘一切都很好，摘下你的面具’。
福奇表示，雅培的决定“相当冒险”。
福奇周三在与联合食品和商业工人国际联盟主席马克·佩龙(Marc Perrone)的现场直播中说:“如果你看看现在社区的感染人数，即使斜率急剧下降，如果你看看过去7天的平均水平，它也是稳定的。”
福奇说:“这是一个危险的迹象，因为当这种情况在过去发生时，当你收回公共卫生措施时，你总是会看到价格回升。”
密西西比州州长泰特·里夫斯(Tate Reeves)周二也表示，县口罩的授权将被取消，企业可以“在没有任何州强制规定的情况下充分运作”。阿拉巴马州州长凯·艾维采取了更加保守的态度，周四宣布她将州政府的口罩授权延长至4月9日。
Texas governor on ending mask order: 'We no longer need government running our lives'
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is opening up about his decision to end the state mask mandate, stressing that he still urges residents to take precautions, but Texans "no longer need government running our lives."
On March 10, Texas' mask order will end and businesses can reopen at full capacity,Abbott announced Tuesday.
In aThursday interview with ABC Houston station KTRK, Abbott said the decision "was a product of the data that we have seen."
Thursday marked the lowest positivity rate and number of hospitalizations since October, Abbott said. Over 50% of Texans ages 65 and older have received at least one vaccine shot, he added.
"All the metrics are moving in the right direction," he told KTRK. "The numbers are adequate for people to be able to go back to work, open up and get back to a sense of normalcy, especially for our kids and schools, while at the same time making sure that people do follow the best practices."
"We are still urging people to continue to wear the mask," Abbott said.
In the faceof backlash over his decision, including from President Joe Biden and Dr. Anthony Fauci,Abbott conceded, "There's never going to be a uniform agreement on this."
The governor added, "If businesses don't feel safe opening, they should not be required to."
Abbott stressed, "We no longer need government running our lives. Instead, everybody must continue to assume their own individual responsibility to take the actions that they have already mastered to make sure that they will not be contracting COVID-19."
Biden on Wednesdaycalled Abbott's ruling "Neanderthal thinking."
"I hope everybody has realized by now these masks make a difference," Biden told reporters in the Oval Office.
"The last thing we need is the Neanderthal thinking that in the meantime, 'Everything’s fine, take off your mask,'" Biden said.
Fauci said Abbott's decision was "quite risky."
"If you look at the amount of infection that is in the community right now, even though the slope is coming down sharply, if you look at the last seven day average, it’s plateaued," Fauci said Wednesday in a livestream with United Food and Commercial Workers International Union President Marc Perrone.
"That’s a dangerous sign because when that has happened in the past, when you pull back on measures of public health, invariably you’ve seen a surge back up," Fauci said.
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves also said Tuesday that county mask mandates would be lifted and businesses could "operate at full capacity without any state-imposed rules." Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey took a more conservative approach, announcing Thursday thatshe was extending the state's mask mandate until April 9.
