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To Reopen The World's 10th Largest Economy
To Reopen The World's 10th Largest Economy
In the end, Abbott took a measured approach. Instead of kicking off a full
restart, the Texas governor announced that a group of medical and economic
experts will guide him through a series of incremental steps aimed at slowly
reopening the state's economy.
The group's aggressive name, the "Strike Force to Open Texas," belies
Abbott's surprisingly cautious framework. Plans to restart business won't
come until April 27, and Abbott stressed they will be determined by "data and
by doctors."
Still, Abbott is ahead of the curve as one of the first big state governors to
announce a firm time line for lifting his April 2 stay-at-home order.
"Opening in Texas must occur in stages," Abbott said during his briefing
Friday. "Obviously, not all businesses can open all at once on May 1." A
premature opening of private businesses, he said, would risk further
outbreaks and "be more likely to set us back, rather than to propel us
forward."
Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has had to strike a balance between
businesss interests and health professionals in his plan to reopen Texas
Friday's plan was a significant step back from what some had anticipated
would be a much more aggressive push from Abbott to reopen the
famously pro-business Texas. The Lone Star State and its $1.8 trillion
economy, second only to California in size, has been hit particularly hard
by a one-two punch of tumbling oil prices and a global pandemic.
At the same time, it's only been two weeks since Abbott issued his stay-
at-home order. Texas remains woefully behind many of the nation's other
largest states in the number of coronavirus tests conducted, which made
some of Abbott's early optimism about re-opening all the more striking. In
a state of 29 million people, only 169,536 coronavirus tests had been
conducted as of Friday, according to the Texas Department of State
Health Services, with a total of 17,371, cases reported and 428
coronavirus-related fatalities.
Through the week, as Abbott's public messaging made it sound less likely
that he would announce a grand reopening, he began taking fire from
members of his own party who say he's moved too slowly to reinvigorate
the economy and has been overly deferential to public health experts. On
Thursday for example, Don Huffines, a former Texas Republican state
senator who represented Dallas County, wrote a blistering op-ed for the
Austin American-Statesman, excoriated Abbott for his handling of the
coronavirus crisis.
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