Nearly a month after Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX), announced he was lifting the state’s mask mandate, new daily cases in the Lone Star State continue on a downward trend, once again beating “expert” predictions of dire consequences.
When Abbott announced the end to the mask mandate, Texas’ 7-day average for new cases was at 7,259 — it’s now roughly half that. Daily cases have also declined by about half since the mask mandate was lifted. Deaths also continue to drop.
Writer Drew Holden pointed out the statistics on Twitter, noting that “when you look at mainstream media coverage about how Texas’s decision was going to be a disaster, for some reason nearly all the stories are from the first week of March, and there haven’t been really any since mid-March, before the predictions came due.”
🧵THREAD🧵
Tomorrow will be 3 weeks since Texas lifted it’s mask mandate. Coronavirus cases have been steadily declining since, w/ yesterday the 18th day in a row of decreases.
But you may remember the left & the media promised the reverse would happen. And I’ve got receipts.⤵️
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) March 30, 2021
When Abbott announced the end of the mask mandate in Texas, prominent Democrats jumped to call him a murderer, with President Joe Biden saying that Texas and Mississippi’s reopening of their economies was “Neanderthal thinking.”
“I think it’s a big mistake,” Biden said earlier this month. “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 in 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.”
“The last thing, the last thing we need is Neanderthal thinking that in mean time everything’s fine, take off your mask,” Biden continued. “Forget it. It’s still matters. … And it’s critical, critical, critical, critical that they follow the science. Wash your hands, hot water, do it frequently. Wear a mask and stay socially distance. And I know you all know that, I wish the heck some of our elected officials knew it.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) also blasted Abbott’s decision, calling it “absolutely reckless” and insisting that California would go in the opposite direction, The Daily Wire previously reported.
“We will be doubling down on mask wearing, not arguing to follow the example of Texas and other states that I think are making a terrible mistake,” Newsom said.
California had a higher case load than Texas earlier this year but had fewer new daily cases than Texas at the time of Abbott’s announcement, a trend that has continued. California had about 1,000 fewer new cases than Texas on Tuesday, but the state remains largely locked down, a move that is hurting its economy.
As Holden pointed out, numerous other Democratic politicians and mainstream media outlets also predicted a new surge of deaths and cases in Texas, predictions that haven’t come to pass. Further, some Democrat-controlled states that are still heavily locked down have more new daily cases than Texas, such as Michigan and New York. The 7-day average in New Jersey is also higher than it is in Texas.