Democrats must admit they were wrong about Texas dropping mask mandate

 Rick Moran:

It’s been a month and a half since Texas Governor Gregg Abbott gave the left heart palpitations by eliminating the state’s mask mandate and most other virus restrictions.

So, according to liberals, there must be dead bodies in the streets and jam-packed hospitals full of sick and dying patients in Texas, right?

President Joe Biden said the governor’s decision reflected “Neanderthal thinking.” Gilberto Hinojosa, chairman of the Texas Democratic Party, said it was “extraordinarily dangerous” and “will kill Texans.” The national media ridiculed Abbott and Texas as a bunch of rubes who deserved whatever they got.

Meanwhile, new cases of COVID-19 have dropped substantially and deaths have fallen as well.

Reason:

Yet a month and a half later, newly identified coronavirus cases in Texas have fallen by more than 50 percent, and daily deaths have dropped even more.

Meanwhile, states with stricter COVID-19 regulations have seen spikes in daily new cases. This is not the pattern you would expect to see if government-imposed restrictions played a crucial role in curtailing the pandemic, as advocates of those policies assume.

The key, according to Jacob Sullum, is that Texas was already partially open when Abbott lifted the mask mandate.

Most businesses in Texas had been allowed to operate at 75 percent of capacity since mid-October, when Abbott also allowed bars to reopen. It was implausible that removing the cap would have much of an impact on virus transmission, even in businesses that were frequently hitting the 75 percent limit.

While Abbott said Texans would no longer be legally required to cover their faces in public, he urged them to keep doing so, and many businesses continued to require masks. At the stores I visit in Dallas, there has been no noticeable change in policy or in customer compliance.

Some states that removed their mask mandates, like Florida, are seeing spikes in infections. But Florida’s death rate is smaller than California’s, leading to the obvious question: Have all the restrictions helped or hurt?

...

There s a possibility that freedom of movement and enjoying outdoor activities is better than being lockdown indoors.  There is something to be said for inhaling fresh air rather than recirculated air when to comes to transmission of the virus.  I also think masks are overrated especially for people who have been vaccinated.  If they want to encourage vaccinations they should reward those who did it by removing the mask requirement.

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