Posted on 04/17/2020 11:51:32 AM PDT by abb
Gov. Greg Abbott announced plans Friday to reopen the Texas economy in stages and announced schools will be closed the remainder of the year.
Abbott issued an executive order that will loosen restrictions on businesses, medical procedures and state parks, he said. He announced the formation of a statewide strikeforce to reopen Texas.
"This [reopening] will be driven by two things: what our medical team advises and what the data shows," Abbott said.
Abbott emphasized it would be gradual steps and not everything would open at once.
Retail businesses will be able to sell items to-go, via a drive-thru set up or delivery, starting Friday, April 24, Abbott said. Updates on places with large gatherings, like restaurants, movie theaters, and bars, will come later.
Hospital data show there is enough space to treat Texans with COVID-19, Abbott said. He announced that non-emergency medical procedures can resume starting April 22. Doctors and nurses will continue treating coronavirus patients and a robust supply chain will provide enough personal protective equipment, Abbott said.
"We're now beginning to see glimmers that the worst is behind us," Abbott said.
Students, at the public, private and college-level, will not return to class the remainder of the school year, Abbott said.
State parks will reopen April 20. Abbott will announce more ways to reopen Texas on April 27, he said.
"Together we can overcome this pandemic," Abbott said. "We can get folks back to work and prevent the spread of COVID-19."
President Donald Trump unveiled guidelines Thursday evening that include a 3-phase plan to reopen the country.
The new guidelines are aimed at easing restrictions in areas with low transmission of the coronavirus while holding the line in harder-hit locations.
Note the criteria he is using to make his decision:
Availability of hospital resources.
Keeping the healthcare system from being overwhelmed is the ONLY achievable goal. Always was.
Much better than the NJ Governor who can’t even explain what his decisions are based on.
IMO, Trump had several governors in his pocket to do this before his announcement yesterday. This will put YUGE pressure on the blue states that are still shut down. Everyone’s figured out the numbers have been cooked since day one.
“Students, at the public, private and college-level, will not return to class the remainder of the school year, Abbott said.”
That’s very well-measured and reasonable.
Its a start, though I think the drive throw thing will qualy end up being ahrd to enforce as it will prove impractical for manythings.
Exactly. Now this is real 4D Chess.
The teacher’s union would riot, most likely.
“Much better than the NJ Governor who can’t even explain what his decisions are based on.”
Certainly not the Bill of Rights, we know that.
Watch Florida closely in the next day or two.
While lacking detail, first reaction is it seems too timid.
We will see later. The Politicians all seem to have the FDA
mindset.
Kids are unlikely to get very sick from this.
The problem is they bring it home to Grandma.
Love Texas ... love my governor!
Some are cooked. Many are either made up, or presented by people who do not know how to recognize and/or qualify degrees of certitude.
Presenting numbers with an appropriate degree of imprecision is something that 80% (+/-10%) of all people are nearly hopeless with all the time.
It's no use if we wait until "the patient" (the U.S. economy) is entirely Covid-19 free, if "the patient" is dead by then.
The needle that must be threaded is to revive the economy without starting new outbreaks that overwhelm our hospitals.
This should be done at the state, city and county level.
Notice, too, how over the past 36 hours, the ENTIRE narrative has been shifted to ReOpen, and NOT on the cooked death numbers.
The governor has caved, and kept schools closed for the year. Shame!
I would be a bit timid too in the beginning, nobody wants more deaths on their hands if this blows up. It has to be a gradual process.
” I think the drive throw thing will qualy end up being ahrd to enforce “
Not impressive. Even Half Whit has allowed drive through and carry out for the past month.
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