Second Lockdown in Texas
Over the past few days, Texas has seen a spike in its coronavirus infections which the governor, Gregory Abbott blames it on the people’s defiance to stick to the mask-wearing rule. Just this Thursday the state recorded over 100 covid19 deaths which are a new recorded. Coupled with this were 10,000 new infections. The number of deaths now took a stand at 2918 (Samuels, 2020). The governor made it clear that the numbers were set to rise considering their efforts to increase testing capacity. He then assures the country that if this is the case, then there would be no other thing to do but go into an economic shutdown.
The governor makes it clear to Texans that an economic shutdown is the most serious step that the state would have to make, and consequently pleas with the citizens to adopt the mask-wearing mandate to slow down the spread of the virus. Currently, more than 80 counties in the state remained ignorant of the rule, even in the counties that had reported surges in the number of coronavirus patients (Samuels, 2020). This increase in the number of infections has also led the governor to impose a few restrictions such as prolonging the ban on elective medical procedures and tightening the working conditions for hotels and other places of gatherings.
Texas Political Party, contrarily, feels that the spike in the number of infections and deaths is a result of the governor’s poor handling of the situation. They argue that the governor’s premature opening of the state put the whole state at risk of the medical strain that is being experienced right now, and probably even more soon. The party has made it clear to the Texans that the governor could have better handled the whole situation to flatten the curve of the coronavirus deaths. They have repeatedly questioned the Republican’s competency, and Trump’s government at large in handling the pandemic. Concerning Harold Lasswell’s definition of politics, Texas faces an eminent economic lockdown in the state, sooner than they think, if the coronavirus cases continue to rise exponentially.
References
Samuels, A. (July 10th, 2020). Gov. Greg Abbott warns if spread of COVID-19 doesn’t slow, “the next step would have to be a lockdown” Coronavirus in Texas. The Texas Tribune. Retrieved from https://www.texastribune.org/2020/07/10/greg-abbott-shutdown-texas-mask-order/