Texas plans to reopen and ease lockdown restrictions

At a press conference Friday, Texas Republican Governor Gregg Abbott announced plans to issue an executive order this week that will begin to lift lockdown restrictions and allow some businesses to reopen. "We can and we must do this," said Abbott.

"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 did not offer many additional details on the plans that would be included in the executive order, but said that “…Texas was focusing on protecting lives while also restoring livelihoods.” Additionally, the governor said there are currently more than 20,000 hospital beds available with 2,448 intensive care unit beds available and 7,834 ventilators.

While the number of new cases of COVID-19 is starting to level off, Abbott said that Texas has not yet reached its peak. 13,484 cases of the Coronavirus have been confirmed in Texas as of April 12 with 271 deaths attributed to the virus, according to the latest figures released by the Texas Department of State Health Services. An increase of 923 known cases over the weekend. Over 124,000 tests for Coronavirus have been conducted in Texas. As of Sunday, 1,338 patients in the state are still hospitalized and 2,014 have recovered from the virus.

In a Facebook Live event posted Friday night, Austin's Democratic Mayor Steve Adler said officials are also discussing how to get the City and businesses open and operating again while continuing to plan for a possible surge in COVID-19 cases in the area.

Adler said that Austin “…needs to plan for gradual and incremental re-openings and that officials are consulting with experts in the business community, but decisions will be made with the priority of maintaining public health.” Adler believes that social distancing will be in place in Austin for some time but that he believes "…we can find the right balance, something we can maintain for some period of time." He stated that what the area is doing right now continues to save lives.

The announcement from the second largest state in the US highlights a growing debate regarding how long Americans and businesses can endure an economic shutdown to contain a pandemic that has claimed more than 22,000 American lives but has also led to record unemployment filings.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, experts have stated that in addition to “flattening the curve” to reduce the strain on medical providers, expanded and quicker testing would need to be part of easing restrictions. In his press conference, Abbott stated that he has a plan to ramp up testing in the state, specifically citing a partnership with Walgreens that claims to have a test that can be administered through a drive-through window and provides results in 15 minutes.

"We will operate strategically," Abbott said. "If we do it too fast without appropriate strategies, it will lead to another potential closure."

In total, about 95 percent of America’s population, or about 306 million people, are currently under some form of lockdown. The governor’s plan for reopening is expected to be announced later this week.