On Wednesday, the United States topped 51,000 new cases of COVID-19 in a single day—making Dr. Anthony Fauci’s warning that 100,000 daily was looming seem disastrously possible. Considering that it’s only been a week since the U.S. first topped 40,000 a day, that’s a fearsome rate of growth. Of course, you don’t need a whole nation to find a number that generates screams. On Thursday, Florida alone topped 10,000 a day. Still, that doesn’t mean Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is going to do anything sensible. He’s not.
However, an 8,200 case day on Wednesday and the prospect of an equally awful day on Thursday have generated a result that might have seemed impossible a week ago: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has just issued a mask mandate for every county in the state with more than 20 active cases of COVID-19. The first time someone is caught in a public space without a mask, they get a warning. The next time, and every time thereafter, they get a $250 fine. The order extends to business and to any building open to the public.
Not only has Abbott resisted past calls for issuing a mask order—until today he had refused to allow mayors or county health officials to issue such orders. But the steep rise of cases in the Lone Star State has generated a reversal from the governor, and the order he issued on Thursday provides few exceptions. The order also explicitly includes “any person attending a protest or demonstration” with more than 10 people. Considering that those attending protests against racist police violence have been wearing masks and right-wing counterprotesters have not, it’s hard to be too upset about that.
Too often throughout this entire crisis, officials at every level have waited far too long before taking steps necessary to reduce the spread of COVID-19. That’s certainly the case here. However, Abbott deserves a degree of respect for at last making this move despite what must be considerable pressure. With Trump still refusing to wear a mask, Vice President Mike Pence defending the confined spray of virus as free speech, and an endless parade of right-wing figures practicing their best William Wallace cry in response to the threat of acting like responsible adults, this could not have been an easy decision.
Abbott doesn’t want to be the governor who watched Texas lose thousands to a viral storm. It’s too bad he’s been an obstacle to exactly the solution he’s now seized on, but … it’s something. It’s something way more than several other Republican governors are doing.