Mayors from the state's largest cities have asked Abbott to give them the authority to require face masks amid the spike in COVID-19 cases.
He said there are also reasons for why Tuesday's new case count was so high: tests results coming from an assisted living facility near Plano, a county south of Austin where positive cases seemed to be reported in batches, and 104 cases in one East Texas county that appear to be primarily from tests at a prison.
Abbott said that measures such as wearing masks, hand sanitizing and social distancing are what make it possible to reopen the state's economy. "The message is we are seeing some increase in the number of COVID patients in the state. We expected this," he said."But we are seeing it occurring at a manageable level. I really want to stress that the continued success is up to the people of the state of Texas."
On Tuesday, the mayors of nine Texas cities — including Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Austin, Fort Worth and El Paso —to the governor asking for the authority to set the rules and regulations on the use of face coverings.
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