After parts of Texas saw a jump in the number of COVID-19 cases, Gov. Greg Abbott announced on Monday, June 22, that the coronavirus is spreading at an "unacceptable rate" in the state.

"I know that some people feel that wearing a mask is inconvenient, or that it is, like, an infringement of freedom," said Gov. Abbott. "But I also know that wearing a mask will help us to keep Texas open."

Story with link to press conference

I think watching the entire press conference is worth the thirty minutes it will take.

it was stupid to reopen bars and nightclubs

low economic benefit, high risk for spread

I do think one of the issues we've seen in case growth is we are just guessing at what's driving it. I would really hope that either via contract tracing (I know we have no real system) we can could isolate the problem areas and be more surgical in what we adjust vs shut everything down. I also don't think the people will handle a full shutdown well. However, if you shut down indoor bars and clubs...... I think most people shrug and say it's worth it.

"Wearing a mask will help us to keep Texas open. Not taking action to slow the spread will cause COVID to spread even worse, risking people's lives and ultimately leading to the closure of more businesses," Abbott said Monday afternoon. "Our goal is to keep Texans out of hospitals and reduce the number of Texans who test positive."

NBC 5 story

I wanted to find his direct quote because my 50-year-old brain sometimes mixes things up a bit.

I haven't seen many people talking about this, which concerns me a bit. I know a lot of people are weary of "Covid news," but I hope they're taking this seriously.

Unfortunately, I think the people who need to hear that the most are the people who aren't going to hear it.

I'm sure. He was just really somber and emphatic in his press conference yesterday. I wish more people would watch it and see how seriously he is treating it now.

Unless you are a bar owner or worker...

We already did the painful choices. All jobs are essential

I'm sure it was all opening up bars and nightclubs. Not the 60-80K in each downtown city protesting.

Just simply opening those wasn't going to cause this spike alone IMHO. We'd be more than fine without all the other nonsense. Jobs and people's livelihoods > protests no matter what someone else tries to convince me of.

beerad12man said:

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I'm sure it was all opening up bars and nightclubs. Not the 60-80K in each downtown city protesting.

Just simply opening those wasn't going to cause this spike alone IMHO. We'd be more than fine without all the other nonsense. Jobs and people's livelihoods > protests no matter what someone else tries to convince me of.

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It's amazing that more people aren't blaming the protests ... that happened 2-3 week ago. Coincidence?

And those protesters then returned home and spread this around.

TBH, restaurants shouldn't be open for dine-in. They are just as risky as bars. But people really really really like to get them some enchiladas and frozen limeade.

aginlakeway said:

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beerad12man said:

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I'm sure it was all opening up bars and nightclubs. Not the 60-80K in each downtown city protesting.

Just simply opening those wasn't going to cause this spike alone IMHO. We'd be more than fine without all the other nonsense. Jobs and people's livelihoods > protests no matter what someone else tries to convince me of.

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It's amazing that more people aren't blaming the protests ... that happened 2-3 week ago. Coincidence?

And those protesters then returned home and spread this around.

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There's really no evidence of this, as fun as it might be to talk about, this virus really doesn't handle outdoors well at al.

culdeus said:

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aginlakeway said:

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beerad12man said:

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I'm sure it was all opening up bars and nightclubs. Not the 60-80K in each downtown city protesting.

Just simply opening those wasn't going to cause this spike alone IMHO. We'd be more than fine without all the other nonsense. Jobs and people's livelihoods > protests no matter what someone else tries to convince me of.

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It's amazing that more people aren't blaming the protests ... that happened 2-3 week ago. Coincidence?

And those protesters then returned home and spread this around.

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There's really no evidence of this, as fun as it might be to talk about, this virus really doesn't handle outdoors well at al.

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Not trying to be a smart ass but I thought experts were also blaming crowded beaches in Florida and Texas for spike as well?

all the people I know who got it in this wave were young and doing young people things

and not at a protest

culdeus said:

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cone said:

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restaurants are not as risky as bars and represent a much large part of the service economy and require much more time and effort to stand up after a shutdown

if you're going to target anything with the highest risk least economic reward, it's bars and nightclubs

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If I was going to target anything I'd do restaurants as you get a larger % of the over 65 justaflus present. bars and nightclubs may ultimately fill up hospitals due to the sheer numbers, fine, if that's the case shut them down.

If you want to talk risk/reward restrict the 65+ crowd from restaurants. It's beyond stupid we can't manage this like Sweden did. It's going to hurt the economy, and cause some job stress but people need to get their priorities straight.

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I know very few people over 65 who are going anywhere, other than maybe the grocery store.

Agree,they aren't sick long but its damaging to the economy when people in professional rolls can't go to work for being exposed in a bar and testing results taking 6 plus days just to find out if you are out longer or not.

Results must get back in the 2 days they promised.

From what we know, bars seem like the lowest hanging fruit.

Lots of people moving about in a confined space. Lots of surfaces contaminated. And lots of close quarters talking. Often with raised voices.

It's just a perfect cocktail for super spreading.

The worst case scenarios are sustained indoor contact with no social distancing and lots of loud talking, cheering, singing, etc. -- they're the hallmark of almost all the super spreader events that have been traced. Irresponsible bars seem to fit the mold more that most and our resident doctor on Texags said that all of his young patients that have come into the hospital with CV have reported going to crowded bars in the last couple weeks.

I wish that government wouldn't have to step in and that people could just be smarter and more reasonable with their behavior.

cone said:

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also the 20 somethings I know who've got it had like a day of flu symptoms and then normal cold congestion

so don't discount that all paranoia in that group is fading rapidly

which won't help with spread

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But then there's this, directly from Dr. Coates' post:
"It should also be noted that according to UT Southwestern 50% of hospitalized and 30% of critical care Covid-19 patients are under age 50 now. So while most in this age group live many still get very seriously ill prior to recovery."

So, maybe the 20 somethings are okay, but where is the cut-off? I don't pretend to know. People in their 30s and 40s may not be dying at huge rates, but hospitalization is not a walk in the park.

I never understood this logic of going to the beach not contributing to the spread because it left out an important part of the equation. I don't think hanging out at the beach is a problem, it is the small number of gas stations and restaurants that were now being flooded with people ass to ass. I went kayak fishing in Freeport and have never seen the Buccee's and other gas stations as packed as they were when I drove by.

It isnt the beach that would be the problem, it is everything leading up to it.