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Nick Wright, a psych-rock artist in the band Caved Mountains, says it’s not the right time. “We would love to do it. There’s a lot of excitement to go play shows, but it’s not the right thing to do,” Wright says. “Right now we’re focused on health and making sure people don’t get sick. We’re practicing here at my house. We’re not going into a jam space.” Wright and the Caved Mountains worry that practicing in a space where other bands have also recently practiced could put them at risk of catching COVID. Since Grail Fest (a live-music listening and record-digging event that Wright had in the works since 2019) was canceled when the pandemic hit in 2020, the band has not done any live shows and isn’t planning any until it’s safe. ....
Texas lifts statewide COVID-19 mask mandate and occupancy restrictions Brad Brooks Bookmark Please log in to listen to this story. Also available in French and Mandarin. Log In Create Free Account Getting audio file . This translation has been automatically generated and has not been verified for accuracy. Full Disclaimer Montinique Monroe/Getty Images Texans awoke on Wednesday with a statewide mask mandate and occupancy restrictions in businesses lifted, a move some heralded as freedom and others as foolishness. On paper, Texas’ rollback of coronavirus mitigation efforts is the most sweeping seen in the United States, along with a similar measure in Mississippi. In practice, vast swaths of Texas have rarely enforced mask or occupancy mandates in the past year, anyway. ....
Not all Texans were rejoicing at the chance to show their faces in public again after Gov. Greg Abbott announced last week that businesses won t be required to enforce face masking or limit their capacity come March 2. Abbott’s announcement set Twitter ablaze with backlash, including the trending hashtag RIPTexas, while President Biden accused Abbott (and Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, who made a similar call) of “Neanderthal thinking.” One of the most widespread bits of criticism over Abbott’s decision was that while businesses may still require patrons to wear masks the burden to reinforce COVID safety policies falls on employees, making them subject to harassment from anti-maskers, a recurring trend in 2020 when private businesses implemented mask requirements before any official mandates were in place. ....
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