Governor Abbott Press Conference

Monday, April 27th - Governor Abbott Press Conference

Abbott starts by saying-- because of Texans efforts to slow spread, COVID19 case rate has been on decline for last 17 days.

“Texas has 3rd most recoveries in America.”

Number of recoveries will soon exceed number of active cases, Abbott says.

"Every life lost is tragic. The fact is the tragedies in Texas have been far fewer than most states in the United States."

Since March, we've laid groundwork to reopen Texas, Abbott says.

We started with hospitals and supplies, closed schools, required travelers from other states to self-quarantine, and reduced large gatherings.

Abbott references the more than 3k members of Texas National Guard who he's deployed to help with PPE distribution and drive-through testing.

Abbott: We more than tripled the Texas Workforce Commission staff, 1.9M claims have been filed, 1.6M processed, and 2B+ paid out in benefits.

Abbott: Executive order to stay-at-home is set to expire on April 30 and I will let it expire as scheduled.

We will reopen Texas with safe standards for businesses, customers and staff, standards based on data and doctors.

"Now it’s time to set a new course, a course that responsibly opens up business in Texas," Abbott says.

10 days ago, I said opening must happen in phases, Abbott says. Don't want to reopen only to have to close down again.

Abbott: We will put measures in place to help businesses open while also containing the virus.

We will open Texas businesses in phases, he says.

Phase I begins Friday May 1. 

If we can contain spread during that time frame, we can move to Phase II as early as May 18, Abbott says.

We need to see 2 weeks of data to show no flare ups.

Most important element of Phase I is protecting vulnerable Texans.

65 and older represent 20+ percent of cases. More than 75 percent of deaths are seniors.

Social distancing will still need to happen as Texas businesses begin to reopen, Abbott indicates.

Abbott says businesses must take care to make sure people can remain home as often as possible.

The more we do to protect vulnerable population, the faster we can safely open business in Texas, Abbott says.

Abbott: Businesses to reopen on May 1 include: retail stores, malls, movie theaters and restaurants.

Occupancy is limited to no more than 25%.

Phase 2 expands occupancy to 50%.

Business owners are not required to open their stores, but they're allowed.

All museums & libraries can open up under same 25% capacity. But interactive portions are closed.

This new Executive Order supersedes all local orders.

Outdoor sports allowed in phase 1, as long as not more than four participants - think golf and tennis - and they keep their distance.

Doctors, nurses, dentists need to get back to work and patients need to see them.

All licensed health care professionals - doctors and dentists - can get back to work, but licensed hospitals must reserve 15% of capacity for COVID-19 patients.

Farmers and ranchers, grocery stores, hardware stores, banks, gas stations, car dealers all allowed to continue operating as they have, Abbott says.

Texas counties with fewer than 5 confirmed cases will be allowed to reopen businesses with 50% capacity.

Abbott says bars, barbershops, hair salons and gyms are not allowed to open at this time. He hopes to get them reopened by mid-May.

Contact tracing plan released:

Abbott says he sent Dr. Birx a copy of what he is announcing. "She said the Texas plan is great."

Abbott says our state testing goal is 25,000 per day.

James Huffines on Abbott's Open Texas Strike Force says the only way to get the Texas economy back on track is by slowing spread.

We've known from very start that we can't just flip a switch and reopen the Texas economy, Huffines said. It would put lives in jeopardy and take us a step back.

Dr. Hellerstedet: "This is really a day for us to be very proud of success that we’ve had so far in TX in containing COVID-19, things that we were most worried about in terms of overwhelming our healthcare capacity have not happened, been in a very steady phase for a long time.

Lt. Governor Patrick: the most important part of team is the people of Texas. People must continue to social distance, wear a mask "it's a suggestion, not a mandate" and customers are going to come to businesses that they see are safe. 

Speaker Bonnen: today is a big day for Texas because we get to take this step. Please show patience for business owners, he says.

Abbott says his new executive order supersedes any local mandates on wearing masks or facial coverings related to fines.