"Do be careful out there AusTexS10.
A lot of folk in Texas certainly don't seem to geddit so they are instead getting it. Things are looking up in Texas, in a bad way."
Thanks, I'm trying to be careful. I stay in as much as possible and mask up when in stores, but I see so many without masks demonstrating their "rights." I see people with masks hanging off their chins and I always say to them "Dude, that's a face mask, not a chin strap"; to date, most smile and pull up their masks instead of arguing or punching me, so I guess I'm lucky considering the mindset of (too) many in the community. To say a lot of folks "don't geddit" is an understatement, and the most glaring example starts in our statehouse. Texas started "re-opening" on May 1 without ever having gotten the curve flattened or going downward first as suggested by the CDC, and has continued to ever expand those openings in spite of rising state and local infection and hospitalization reports. No state-level stay at home or mask orders, and even actions taken by our state government to forbid local governments from invoking and enforcing those requirements within their jurisdictions (how stupid is that?). The governor seems to now be walking back that last action, saying it was a misinterpretation by cities, but there were big news stories when it happened last month and he sure didn't react and clarify his intent at the time. Travis County just enacted a policy of filing trespassing charges on anyone entering any of their facilities without a mask or face covering, which is at least a start, but I think assault charges may be more appropriate considering the risk to others posed by those not wearing a mask. A lot of those non-mask rightists appear to be devout in their typically very conservative religion, but they were obviously tardy or absent the day "my brother's keeper" was discussed.
These are screen shots taken from a local TV broadcast on June 11 after the "spiking" really started kicking in.
And our state government continues to open or expand openings. I dunno, maybe they are advocates of the old zero population growth proposals from the days of yore. Obviously, they're behind the curve on everything else. I was encouraged (and surprised) at the outset when our governor (R) said opening up the state would be based on science and medical advice, but it seems like his source of this may be an old Ouija board. I'm so jealous of those who live where their government leaders actually care more about people than profits. People have complained about the government curtailing, if only temporarily, their business operations, and I feel for them. We knew so little at the outset about this beast and maybe overreacted, but now we're overreacting in re-opening, effectively offsetting the gains in disease control we may have had overall for the first couple of months. You're the learned medical dude, but I've wondered where we would be if businesses, at least those of lesser risk, had instead been mandated to reduce operations, as opposed to closing, and strict and enforceable mask and distancing requirements imposed and enforced by the government(s). Perhaps less economic impact combined with better disease control, but maybe I'm dreaming.
