BEAUMONT, Texas — As recent COVID-19 cases continue to spike Texas Governor Greg Abbott has no plans to pull back on the re-opening of Texas but Louisiana's governor has taken a different stance.
The trends for both Texas and Louisiana are going in the wrong direction in terms of new cases and hospitalizations.
One may wonder why we're seeing such different responses.
“Closing down Texas again will always be the last option,” Abbott said in a Monday afternoon news conference.
He made it clear that the state will continue to operate as is even though Monday was the 6th day with more than 3,000 new covid-19 cases.
“We have strategies to reduce the spread of covid-19 without having to return to stay-at-home policies," he said Monday.
Abbott challenged people to wear face masks and practice social distancing but he's not closing businesses.
Just across the Sabine River Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards is pumping the brakes saying "we will not be moving to phase three when the order expires at the end of this week."
Currently Louisiana’s phase two allows most businesses, including restaurants, to operate at 50 percent capacity.
"It goes without saying, this is not the direction we want to be heading in,” Edwards says.
Edwards also brought up the effects of heat with this virus but Dr. Gary Mennie of the Southeast Texas Medical Center he wouldn’t depend on the heat for too much help.
"I wouldn't bank on not doing what you should be doing, like social distancing and washing your hands, based on the fact that it's getting hotter here in Texas," Dr. Mennie told 12News Monday.
In Southeast Texas COVID-19 numbers have also spiked recently with another jump Monday yet area hospitals are still doing fine in terms of capacity Dr. Mennie says.
“We still have not had a large number of positives for our area, we have enough PPE supplies," he said.
For Texas as a whole Governor Abbott says he'll continue to make decisions based on data and the advice of medical experts.
“COVID-19 is now spreading at an unacceptable rate in Texas and it must be corralled,” the governor said Monday.
Cities and counties across Texas have begun to implement mask orders but the governor offered no indication today that he plans to issue such an order for the entire state.
