Texas appears to be the first in the nation looking to reopen businesses after implementing strict coronavirus guidelines.
Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) announced Friday that he is looking toward an executive order that would let businesses reopen in a “safe” way, Newsweek reported. Abbott insisted the state could find a way to balance health and the economy to ensure people could get back to their livelihoods.
“We will focus on protecting lives while restoring livelihoods,” Abbott said. “We can and we must do this. We can do both, expand and restore the livelihoods that Texans want to have by helping them return to work. One thing about Texans, they enjoy working and they want to get back into the workforce. We have to come up with strategies on how we can do this safely.”
Abbott added that details of his upcoming executive order would be released next week. Newsweek reported that the executive order should provide a list of guidelines to businesses on how they can reopen safely.
“We will operate strategically,” Abbott said at the press conference. “If we do it too fast without appropriate strategies, it will lead to another potential closure.”
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Abbott also announced updated statistics for COVID-19’s effect on Texas. Approximately 116,000 Texans have been tested for coronavirus; of those, 11,449 tested positive. Texas has seen 221 COVID-19 related deaths, 1,532 hospitalizations and 1,336 recoveries from the disease. To be considered recovered, a previously-infected person must go 14 days without the virus in their system. Abbott also said that Texas had 7,834 ventilators available.
Currently, Texas is under a stay-at-home order closing non-essential businesses and dine-in restaurants which is due to last until April 30. Abbott did not reveal an updated timeline for reopening Texas. President Donald Trump came under fire last month for saying he hoped to reopen the United States by Easter, April 12. He later backtracked on these comments, and Trump now says he hopes the country can open by early May.
Fox News’ Alex Pappas reminded readers that Abbott’s March 19 executive order closed schools, restaurants, bars, and gyms.
“Working together, we must defeat COVID-19 with the only tool that we have available to us – we must strangle its expansion by reducing the ways that we are currently transmitting it,” Abbott said when he signed the previous executive order. “We are doing this now, today, so that we can get back to business as usual more quickly.”
The Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reports that the U.S. has just over 530,000 cases of the virus and that so far, 20,608 people have died at the time of this writing, while another 32,314 have recovered after contracting the virus.
President Donald Trump also appears to be struggling with the decision to reopen the economy, having said previously he hoped businesses could reopen by Easter. The left-wing media and Democrats slammed him for stating his opinion and hope. Trump now appears nervous about reopening the economy too soon.
“I would say without question it’s the biggest decision I’ve ever had to make,” the president said at his Friday coronavirus press briefing.
“It’s been my honor to be the president for the American people. … I have a big decision coming up and I only hope to God it’s the right decision,” Trump added.