Anonymous ID: 226988 July 11, 2020, 7:52 a.m. No.9927225   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>7263 >>7364 >>7389

Gov. Abbott urges Texas police to enforce mask order, as some balk

 

Gov. Greg Abbott called on police across Texas to step up enforcement of his mask order amid the mounting pandemic, explaining Friday that they can either “be part of the problem or part of the solution.”

 

Facing a revolt within his own party, the Republican governor tried again to sell the measure, acknowledging that face coverings can be inconvenient but saying the alternative of locking the state down again is far worse. The state on Friday reported 10,002 COVID-19 hospitalizations, almost twice as many as two weeks ago and seven times the total on Memorial Day.

 

Also Friday, Texas officials asked the federal government to set up an emergency field hospital in the Rio Grande Valley, where coronavirus patients are beginning to overrun the capacities of hospitals and ICUs.

 

“We have a short period of time in the next couple of weeks to bend the curve of this explosion in cases and hospitalizations,” Abbott said in an interview on KSAT in San Antonio. “If we can enforce this, we will be able to keep the state open and reduce hospitalizations.”

 

Public safety officials in several counties, including Montgomery, have refused to enforce the new order, citing personal liberties or logistical concerns. On Wednesday, the Montgomery County Republican Executive Committee voted unanimously to censure Abbott, joining at least three other county executive committees that have taken similar steps.

 

Democrats have separately attacked the governor for reopening the state too quickly and blocking cities and counties from taking precautions early in the pandemic. In April, Abbott stripped local officials of the ability to enforce their own mask orders.

 

Houston and Harris County leaders, who have been pushing for mask order since for months, are frustrated by the governor’s leadership. Mayor Sylvester Turner said he doesn’t want to add mask enforcement to the Houston Police Department’s already heavy load, spokesperson Mary Benton said.

 

“It would help more if all officials were consistent in their public messaging and set a good example about wearing masks,” she said. “They also should listen to local leaders who know their communities and have been fighting tirelessly to get more resources and support during the public health crisis.”

 

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo advocated even stronger action late Friday.

 

“If we want schools to open safely for the long haul, if we want some semblance of normalcy, & if we want a sustainable economy, then we have to buckle down — now. We need a stay home order. The longer we wait, the longer it’ll take to bring down the curve & the more people will die,” she tweeted late Friday.

 

Abbott finds himself in the difficult position of promoting a mask mandate that he has himself long opposed. Abbott rejected previous calls for a statewide mask order but pivoted last week as Texas entered the Fourth of July weekend amid a growing and deadly surge.

 

Since Tuesday, the state has recorded more than 300 COVID-19 fatalities, according to a Houston Chronicle analysis, a huge jump from just a week ago. More than 3,000 Texans have died from the disease since March.

 

The governor’s mask order applies to all counties with 20 or more COVID-19 cases and imposes a fine only for second or any subsequent offenses. The fines are capped at $250 and are left to the discretion of law enforcement. The order also specifies that it carries no possibility of jail time — the no-jail provision has prompted at least one sheriff to declare it unenforceable.

 

In an interview with KLBK in Lubbock, Abbott warned that infections and hospitalizations have yet to slow, meaning more deaths are likely. He said masking in public is “our last best effort” to slow the surge before having to lock the state down again, as it was in April.

 

“This was a tough decision,” Abbott said of the mandate. He added: “The only way it won’t be enough is if the public doesn’t adopt it.”

 

https://www.expressnews.com/politics/texas/article/Abbott-urges-Texas-police-to-enforce-mask-order-15399989.php

Anonymous ID: 226988 July 11, 2020, 7:57 a.m. No.9927250   🗄️.is 🔗kun

A List of the Republican County Executive Committees to Censure Governor Greg Abbott

 

As Texas Governor Greg Abbott has continued to issue executive orders related to the coronavirus pandemic, he is facing growing criticism from party activists who view his actions as executive overreach.

 

Some county Republican executive committees have passed resolutions under the party’s Rule 44 to censure Abbott for his actions.

 

While the resolutions at the county level do little more than indicate formal disapproval from local party leaders, each participating county has requested that the GOP state convention vote in agreement with their resolutions and impose penalties on Abbott.

 

The state convention can take up the resolution and, if passed by a majority vote from members, nullify rules requiring party neutrality in primary or runoff elections involving Abbott or prohibit the Republican Party of Texas from providing “financial or other support” to Abbott’s campaign until the next convention in 2022.

 

In addition to the state convention, the State Republican Executive Committee (SREC) also has the authority to censure Abbott with the same available penalties, but that action would require a two-thirds, not majority, vote.

 

In 2018, the SREC censured former Texas Speaker Joe Straus, and later that year the state convention censured former state Rep. Byron Cook (R-Corsicana).

 

The following is a list of counties that have censured Abbott.

 

July 4, 2020: Ector County

July 6, 2020: Harrison County

July 8, 2020: Llano County

July 8, 2020: Montgomery County

July 9, 2020: Hood County

July 9, 2020: Denton County

July 10, 2020: Eastland County

 

https://thetexan.news/a-list-of-the-republican-county-executive-committees-to-censure-governor-greg-abbott/

Anonymous ID: 226988 July 11, 2020, 8 a.m. No.9927272   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>7364 >>7384

Austin City Council Approves $2,000 Fine for Mask-Order Violation Through End of 2020

 

In an emergency meeting on Thursday, the Austin City Council approved two new ordinances — one, a local version of the governor’s statewide mandate and the other, an enforcement ordinance for those new requirements.

 

Notably, the council upped the possible fine to $2,000 for violations of the mask order from the $250 specified by Governor Abbott’s. They also permitted civil action against businesses that do not follow health standards and extended the effective-to date until December 31, 2020.

 

“There was not a need for us to reinstitute a stay-at-home order,” Austin Mayor Steve Adler said afterward, “but everyone needs to stay disciplined and wear masks to continue to bend the curve.”

 

Adler has maintained alarm over recent COVID-19 case and hospitalization numbers, which have increased. The city is currently in Stage 4 of five in its warning system.

 

Governor Abbott sent a letter to Adler the day before, stating, “The City of Austin’s consideration additional enforcement mechanisms to ensure compliance with my Executive Orders is an important step toward reducing the spread of the novel coronavirus.”

 

City officials have especially highlighted hospitalizations as a point of concern, fretted by what they say is a potential overwhelming of bed capacity.

 

The Texan received hospitalization numbers from the three biggest hospital systems in Austin: Baylor Scott & White, Ascension Seton, and St. Davids. The three systems release joint numbers every Tuesday and Friday, and today’s numbers show a 2,473 total joint staffed bed capacity filled 77 percent.

 

Their collective ICU capacity is 483 which is 88 percent filled. These are general, and not coronavirus-specific totals. The hospitals declined to disclose how this compares to non-coronavirus operating capacities.

 

Texas 2036, which tracks COVID-19 case and hospitalization numbers, shows Travis County hospital bed and ICU bed capacity is at 19 and 15 percent available, respectively. Available ventilator capacity, meanwhile, is at 63 percent.

 

The city’s current seven-day moving averages show 447 hospitalized, 145 in the ICU, and 76 on ventilators.

 

Vance Ginn, chief economist with the Texas Public Policy Foundation, pumped the brakes on the COVID-19 surge frenzy, telling KFYO’s Chad Hasty, “Hospitals have a lot of resource availability across the state.”

 

“In some areas, like Houston, there’s less available, but across the state, there is much more,” Ginn continued.

 

“One thing you often don’t hear,” he continued, “is that hospitals usually have about 90 percent of their beds full at any given point in time, much less than when COVID-19 is happening because it’s profitable for them to do so.”

 

The ordinance mandates facial coverings in businesses with a few exceptions, sets health standards for businesses to follow, and more intensely regulates procedures on construction sites.

 

It was rumored the council was considering a reclosure order, but ultimately opted only for a stricter mask mandate.

 

https://thetexan.news/austin-city-council-approves-2000-fine-for-mask-order-violation-through-end-of-2020/