As coronavirus cases spike, Texas mayors ask governor to allow them to require masks
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The mayors of nine Texas cities asked Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday to be allowed to mandate masks, a request that came as the number of daily coronavirus cases in the state set a record high.
In a terse reply to the mayors of Arlington, Austin, Dallas, El Paso, Fort Worth, Grand Prairie, Houston, Plano and San Antonio, Abbott's office said none of them had "lifted a finger to impose penalties and enforcement mechanisms available to them."
"The one time a county judge did, a business owner wound up in jail," said John Wittman, a spokesman for the Republican governor.
Coronavirus: New technology helps keep employees, consumers safe
The reference was to Shelly Luther, a salon owner who became a cause celebre among conservatives after a Dallas judge sentenced her to a week in jail for reopening her business while the state's stay-at-home order was in effect.
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Since the order was lifted in May, the number of confirmed cases has continued to rise. According to an NBC News tally, nearly 90,000 people in Texas have contracted the virus. State data show that the number rose by more than 2,600 on Tuesday, a toll Abbott told residents not to be startled by.
"There is no reason to be alarmed," Abbott said during a news conference. "Even though there are more people hospitalized, we still remain at the lowest threat level in our hospital capacity."
Abbott's April 28 order beginning a phased-in reopening of businesses across the state "encouraged" people to wear face coverings, but local authorities weren't allowed to fine residents who didn't.
In Tuesday's letter, the mayors said requiring people to wear them could "prove to be the most effective way to prevent the transmission of the disease."
The mayors added that many people refused to wear them — even though their efficacy has been scientifically proven.
Research published in the medical journal The Lancet last month looked at 172 studies from 16 countries that examined different prevention measures. The study found that the risk of transmitting the coronavirus drops from 17 percent to 3 percent if a mask or a respirator is worn.
Tuesday's request from mayors came amid fears that the virus is resurgent not just in Texas but also across the country. Case counts have receded in states hit hard earlier this year, even as they jump in other states, including South Carolina, Arkansas and Arizona, which didn't suffer the kinds of outbreaks that New York and New Jersey did.
Dr. David Weber, medical director of hospital epidemiology at the University of North Carolina Medical Center in Chapel Hill, told NBC News that the virus will continue to spread if people let their guards down.
"If people become less compliant with physical distance and masks, we're going to see more cases," he said.
CORRECTION (June 16, 2020, 10:40 p.m. ET): A previous version of this article misstated who the reply to the mayors' request came from. It was John Wittman, a spokesman for the governor, not Gov. Greg Abbott.
Tim Stelloh
Tim Stelloh is a reporter for NBC News, based in California.
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Bumping up towards 120,000 dead, and even modest preventative measures to protect "fellow Americans" are ignored....
The pressure on the governor of Arizona, (republican) has since the huge uptick in cases and hospitalizations caved in and is letting the mayors of the cities make the decision. Ducey the governor will not issue an order proclaiming the mandatory use of face masks statewide.
there is no national spike in cases,
why the twisted knickers?
Nice try.... Go look at the data for hospitalizations at the state level for Texas, Florida, Arizona, Alabama, the Carolinas. The are ALL increasing.
Besides. Even if you do want to stick to that national curve.... compare it to that of other countries like Spain, Italy, and Germany who have driven their national infection rates way down. They have all accomplished driving down their respective infection rates where we have to anticipate 200,000 dead on Trump's watch by the end of September.
I did...
No you didn't..... Nothing about hospitalizations in your link.
This one does though..
Health officials believe people might have let down their guard and come in closer contact with others following the reopening of businesses by the state and last month’s Memorial Day weekend holiday.
But hey..... Let's go have a Trump rally.....!
Cherry picking your graphs?
How preventive is it? Information without context is useless.
What kind of context beyond a death certificate do you need for the information to be useful?
if your hair is on fire you can put it out now... LOL
Texas coronavirus totals jump due to 1,500 previously excluded state prison infections
Texas’ coronavirus case total jumped this week in part due to nearly 1,500 infections among state prisoners that had not been previously counted in statewide tallies
So what's your point? Those infected prisoners are in contact with guards and prison staff, that get to take that infection home to their families and communities. No threat there that you care about....
I don't see why you're bitchin.... Everything's right with Trumps approach to dealing with the pandemic now isn't it..../s
What does what is happening in Texas have to do with Trump.
And what is Trump not doing to end the pandemic, that you would like to see done?
Do you favor another shut down, and have you conveniently overlooked the fact...
that many of these new cases are likely coming from all those illegals living in the shadows down there?
Trump is helping to fight the pandemic by holding an indoor political rally Saturday in Tulsa....
And I love the shotgun approach to your deflections this morning.... New Trump apologist approach you're trying out?
Trump is the POTUS of Texas too, Greg.
Quiet is what I would like, no rallies and no Twitter. I gaurantee you his ratings would go up.
I was absolutely and adamantly against the first shut down, no one in their right mind should have ever considered it.
I will conveniently overlook the fact that this false conspiracy theory is beneath the intelligence we all know you have.
That's no surprise. When someone is quoted as refusing to wear a mask saying..."I'm not doing it because I grew up in a free country."
Maybe he should have added.."and I don't give a shit WHO I kill."
Why are cases surging again in China?
Why do you care more about what's happening in China than here in the US Greg?
I don't think it will make much difference if it isn't compulsory and I'm not sure that would be constitutional. Here's a photo from Ohio over the weekend where masks are advised. Even the cops have given up on wearing them.
All the more reason as to why leadership at the highest levels of the states and federal government need to be focused...or at least needed to be.
Me, I think it is too late, and this virus is going to do what it is going to do. Our window of opportunity is gone as the spread is too far and wide in the US.
Add to that the disdain for following the guidelines...and away we go....
What a hoot! Mayors are asking to be allowed to mandate masks. That's a political circle jerk if there ever was one.
Because the governor mandated that it was against his wishes under the current state of emergency.
This morning he backed down.
Dallas made masks mandatory already.
According to most tRump supporters, Co-Vid19 is through the roof, but only in those areas under Democrat 'rule' Only BLUE areas.
How is it I'm able to comment Perrie and SP?
Curious isn't it?
Is this thing still on? Lost interest for a bit.
Quote: “Life finds a way.” See mutation D614G, couldn’t remember how to link to the article so you’re going to google it.
That in mind, There should be no doubt a “few” attendees will question why they went to the event(s) As they ponder it further, in the nearest ICU, it’ll sink in that the knucklehead-in-chief caused his second term to just end. The unintended consequence being, ya can’t vote from the ICU. No visitors. Make America Healthy Again-MAHA
Peace
Maskup
Unique Coronavirus Strain Found in Chicago: Northwestern Study
Published June 18, 2020 • Updated on June 18, 2020 at 8:16 pm
Northwestern University researchers have discovered Chicago has a unique COVID-19 virus strain that appears to be directly linked from the early outbreak in China, the university said in a news release Thursday.
Another variant discovered in Chicago COVID-19 patients, which happens to be the predominant variant worldwide, and in the U.S. is centered in New York, generates more of the virus in the upper airways than the Chicago version.
“This is the first clear evidence that genetic differences in the viruses are associated with differences in the characteristics of the infections that they cause,” said Dr. Egon Ozer, an assistant professor in infectious diseases at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a Northwestern Medicine physician.
Maskup
Peace