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Bartender in Houston: Restaurant capacity limits will be lifted in Texas
Photo: David J. Phillip / dpa
In the fight against the corona pandemic, the requirement for a mask in the USA has long been controversial.
It was not until the new US President Joe Biden that the measure was implemented across the country in many parts of public life.
In Texas the rules have now been overturned.
Capacity limits for restaurants and other businesses are also being lifted in the state.
"Now is the time to open Texas 100 percent," Republican Governor Greg Abbott said Tuesday.
The time for restrictions on the economy is over in view of the ongoing vaccination campaign.
“This has to end,” Abbott said.
The lifting of the mask requirement and the capacity limits will apply from Wednesday.
"Now is the time to open Texas 100 percent."
Greg Abbott, Texas Governor
The approximately 29 million inhabitants of the southern state are called upon to adhere to the medical advice to contain the corona pandemic.
But it no longer needs government regulations, said Abbott.
If, contrary to expectations, the utilization of hospitals in a district should rise sharply, the region could impose new restrictions.
However, no penalties should be imposed for violations of, for example, a possible local mask requirement, said Abbott.
The head of the US health authority CDC had only warned on Monday not to prematurely lift the corona requirements.
Now is not the time for that, she warned.
The renowned corona expert Ashish Jha from Brown University in Providence commented on Twitter that with the lifting of the corona requirements, Governor Abbott was "taking a great risk to people's lives."
Mississippi also removes the mask requirement
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves said all masks and capacity restrictions for restaurants and businesses would end on Wednesday.
"It's time," the Republican wrote on Twitter.
Around three million people live in the state.
The number of new infections in the USA has fallen sharply since the beginning of the year - from over 200,000 per day to an average of over 60,000.
However, experts warn that there could be another increase due to the new variants of the virus.
In Texas, 5.7 million doses of vaccine have already been administered, according to Abbott.
The number of vaccinations will now continue to increase by about a million a week, he promised.
When the requirements were lifted, Abbott relied on estimates of the number of unreported infections that had already been overcome.
So far, there have been 2.5 million confirmed infections in Texas.
In reality, around ten million people could already have had an infection, he speculated.
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