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Even as the mandate goes away, there's no masking over the political risk for Gov. Abbott
Will history repeat itself as the mask mandate and other COVID-19 restrictions are lifted? Or will Gov. Abbott's latest gamble pay off.
Corpus Christi Caller Times
AUSTIN — The numbers were finally going in the right direction when Gov. Greg Abbott announced he was loosening the reins on businesses that had all but been shut down for weeks after COVID-19 case numbers were doubling by the week.
It was April, 27, 2020. Just two and a half weeks earlier, the daily count of confirmed cases in Texas from the still strange new virus reached what at the time was the alarming number of 1,400. But when the governor gave the go-ahead for retail stores, sit-down restaurants and some other business types to reopen at pared-back capacities, the new daily caseload from the day before was down to a manageable 666.