Texas’s governor has issued several Executive Orders to fight COVID-19, including a requirement to wear masks in public, a reopening order, and an order that grants mayors the power to issue restrictions on the gathering of more than ten people. On Friday 9th, the state’s health officials reported 4,036 new cases (Texas reports 3,650 coronavirus cases). In total, there are over 70,000 active cases of COVID-19 in Texas, and 16,432 people have died from this disease within this state since the beginning of the pandemic. The population density is 109 people per square mile, which is close to the national average. However, recent protests against police brutality are an important social factor that may contribute to the spread of COVID-19. The state’s governor has issued several Executive Orders to minimize the spread of this virus.
Health experts encourage people in Texas to get vaccines for flu, a common disease people have in the winter. Although the vaccine does not guarantee that an individual will not catch the flu, it will help mitigate this condition’s potential complications (Bethel). An expert voiced the opinion that getting a flu vaccine is important because healthcare professionals have to focus on combatting COVID-19 since typically, the hospital’s capacity is stretched to the limit during the flu season.
Similar to the other states in the US, Texas governor Greg Abbott issued an executive order that targeted large gatherings of people and required the state’s inhabitants to stay at home. More recently, the governor issued an executive order to open up businesses gradually. Beginning on April 17th, Abbot began issuing Executive Orders that would prepare the state for reopening, with GA-15 and GA-16 allowing to perform some surgeries and opening “to go” retail spots (Opening the state of Texas). The following orders were linked to the second and third stages of the reopening, with more businesses having permission to operate.
Economically, this pandemic has affected both businesses and individuals. The state officials and the United States government are negotiating a relief package that would allow paying people who are unable to work because the policies of officials restricted the individual’s ability to provide for themselves. Despite this, a large number of retail stores will probably close by the end of this year. Moreover, the number of deaths may increase, with the main danger being reaching the hospital’s full capacity and the flu season approaches. If the state’s healthcare system has to deal with COVID-19 and flu simultaneously, the risk of not providing healthcare services to all people who need it increases.
The main factor that led the governor of Texas to begin reopening the state was the social tension due to economic struggles. Notably, Europe has two distinctly different examples of how the governments approached the COVID-19 and the outcomes they had in terms of the number of cases and deaths. Italy has struggled because the state’s healthcare system was unprepared, and the number of cases was substantial. On the other hand, Sweden has chosen the herd immunity strategy, where the citizens would gradually acquire immunity from COVID-19 without issuing lockdowns. However, the two states have different population sizes and densities and hospital capacities, and it is unclear which approach is better. Overall, the goal of the current policies in Texas is to open as many businesses and public facilities as possible considering the number of cases in different areas and to work towards increasing hospitals’ capacity.
Works Cited
Bethel, Brain. “Health Experts Say this Winter will be a Time for Flu and COVID-19, Too.” Abilene, Web.
“Opening the State of Texas.” Texas Health and Human Services. 2020. Web.
“Texas Reports 3,650 Coronavirus Cases, 4,036 Total Increase.” KRVG, Web.