Texas’ Attorney General on Wednesday threatened to sue the city of Austin, which has chosen not to roll back its mask mandate even though Gov. Greg Abbott lifted a statewide mandate earlier this month.
Even though today is the day Gov. Abbott is lifting the mask mandate statewide, local officials are urging the public to still be diligent about wearing masks.
I feel like Mr. Miyagi in the Karate Kid movie saying Wax on, wax off , only now it s Mask on, mask off . Or maybe I m channeling Shakespeare s Hamlet, with his famous existential crisis phrased as, To be, or not to be? .
Today, March 10th, marks the official lift of the statewide mask mandate in Texas, and restaurants and bars can operate at 100% occupancy.
Many businesses in the Central Texas area are still following the CDC guidelines to help slow the spread of the coronavirus, including asking customers to wear a mask. H-E-B seems to be catching the most flack for it, even though they re only asking politely while some employees demand stricter implementation of their mask policy.
The statewide mask mandate has ended, but the City of Temple will continue to require masks inside City facilities. Police and firefighters will mask up too.
The daily routine at restaurants and bars has involved masking up and wiping down. Now, they re afraid of what s going to happen next. We re going to ask politely, we re not going to make a scene, we re just going to ask and we ll supply you a mask, he said.
Across town at Kenny and Ziggy s Deli, there was a wait outside for lunch on Monday as the restaurant maintained a 50% capacity. Every guest also gets a temperature check before they are even allowed to go inside. I m a business owner. I m a very conservative person, said Ziggy Gruber, a well-known restaurant man in Houston with a big personality. I don t care if you re a conservative or liberal person, this is not about either political side, it s about common sense.