BEAUMONT, Texas — Texas Governor Greg Abbott has made it clear that reopening Texas is a top priority.
He continues to tweet that announcement are coming soon.
Remember bars and nightclubs remain closed, and even restaurants are at 50% capacity.
After nearly 6 months of restrictions, Texas is starting to see more reopenings. That means more people are out and about.
Starting with back to school, most districts in Southeast Texas have started the year. Nederland ISD was the latest to go back.
"Some people are nervous, but I would say for the most part, everybody's ready to get back to normal," one Nederland parent said.
Schools have new rules as a result of the still-spreading virus, with most requiring face coverings, enforcing social distancing and putting an extra emphasis on hand hygiene.
The Beaumont Children's Museum will also be able to reopen on Thursday after being closed to the public for months.
Pour Brothers Brewers will also reopen Thursday, after being closed for almost 20 weeks.
In Houston, Mayor Sylvester Turner says they're still holding back on large outdoor gatherings.
"We all want to return to some sort of normalcy, while keeping safety at the forefront, but let me stress that there is nothing normal about COVID-19," Turner said.
Some of the strictest rules fell on nursing homes to protect the most vulnerable, but now Texas is allowing limited visitation in facilities that don't have any COVID-19 cases.
Over the last few months, Gov. Abbott made it clear that shutting down the state again would be the very last option. In a tweet from last week, he says COVID cases and hospitalization numbers have gone down since his last orders. While also hinting at more reopenings.
While rules may not be as strict as they were a few months ago, health officials continue to ask that we do everything we can to slow down the spread of COVID-19.