Texas Governor Abbott recovers from COVID-19 and credits the vaccination for his short and mild illness despite vowing to not enforce mask mandates amid fourth coronavirus surge
Texas Governor Greg Abbott, whose state is engulfed in a fourth COVID surge, said he tested negative for COVID-19 on Saturday after having a 'brief and mild' bout with the infection this week, all while vowing to not enforce any more mask mandates and issuing an emergency order banning school mask mandates statewide.
In a video posted on Twitter, the Republican governor, who announced four days ago that he had tested positive with the virus, credited the vaccination for his short illness and urged Texans to get vaccinated.
'I am now testing negative for Covid,' Abbott captioned the video. 'I am told that my infection was brief & mild because of the vaccination I received.'
'I will continue to quarantine as recommended by doctors. And, I will keep working on issues affecting Texas. God bless you all. And God bless Texas.'
Abbott said he will continue to quarantine at the recommendation of doctors and will continue to work to open infusion centers for antibody therapy treatment across his state.
In a video posted on Twitter, Abbott, who announced four days ago that he had tested positive with the virus, credited the vaccination for his short illness and urged Texans to get vaccinated
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, whose state is engulfed in a fourth COVID surge, said he tested negative on Saturday after having a 'brief and mild' bout with the infection this week
Abbott's office on Tuesday said he had the virus but was not experiencing symptoms. He received a monoclonal antibody treatment, it said.
It did not give any indication as to when the governor contracted the virus.
The highly infectious Delta variant continues to rampage across Texas and other states with low levels of vaccinations.
Meanwhile, when it comes to percent of population vaccinated so far, Texas sits between 50 and 60 percent, while states in New England and elsewhere have a near 80 percent rate.
Nationwide, the 7-day average of daily vaccination rates have steeply dropped since their peak in April, 2021.
Meanwhile, Abbott is part of a trend of Republican governors going against mask mandates, and has sought to block local officials in the state from mandating the use of nose and mouth coverings to reduce infection by the virus.
However, just days before announcing he had recovered from the virus, Abbott's efforts to block mask mandates across the Lone Star State were thwarted by the state's Supreme Court, which declined to back his ban of school mask mandates on Thursday, according to NBC News.
Although federal agencies have required their employees to wear masks on site, Abbott still issued an emergency order last month banning any mask mandates statewide.
Pictured: A graph showing average vs. cumulative number of US vaccinations, which depicts a steep drop off of daily jabs over the last several months
Percent of US population vaccinated so far, seen state by state. Texas sits between 50 and 60 percent vaccinated, while states in New England and elsewhere have a near 80 percent rate
The Supreme Court had initially upheld Abbott's ban earlier this month after county leaders in Dallas and San Antonio defied the governor's ban, the Associated Press reported.
Both Abbott and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton added that they would sue any agency, department or company that does not comply with the emergency order. No lawsuits have been filed as of Sunday.
The state’s biggest county, along with several Southern Texas school districts, won temporary restraining orders on Friday in an effort to skirt Gov. Abbott’s ban on mask mandates, which they states is worsening the COVID-19 pandemic throughout the state.
While granting the temporary restraining orders, state District Judge Jan Soifer said Abbott’s executive order was 'prohibiting a requirement that the schools and the local authorities and the people who generally Texas relies on to make decisions for its citizens think are necessary.'