By: River Reyes

On Tuesday March 2nd, 2021, Governor Greg Abbot announced that he would be issuing an executive order that would lift the statewide mask mandate as well as opening all Texas businesses to 100% capacity. The executive order was slated to go into effect on Wednesday March 10th, 2021. 

After announcing the reopening of the state, the executive order was hotly debated leaving many people conflicted on whether or not we should be allowed to not be required to enforce a mask mandate. Many businesses and schools announced that they would still be enforcing the same mask and social distancing policies for the safety of students and consumers, but there are still a number of schools and businesses that are taking the same direction as the state and ending their restrictions. This raises the question of whether or not it’s too early for the nation to begin operating at 100% capacity, with no restrictions whatsoever. 

No matter whether the state is open or restricted, individuals should still practice safe habits and protect themselves as not everyone has been vaccinated and the virus is still affecting millions of people as it has only been a year since the initial outbreak.