Some of Texas’s top doctors warned on Wednesday that Governor Greg Abbott’s sudden decision to abandon the mask’s mandate and lift restrictions on the coronavirus could result in a new outbreak of infections and deaths from Covid-19.
And while they now have enough masks, ventilators and emergency space to treat a new wave of patients, they say there is a huge shortage of staff who are not yet stressed and exhausted from fighting the pandemic for more than a year.
“We have the capacity to care for more patients,” said Dr. James McDeavitt, of Baylor College of Medicine to NBC News. “We have a large stock of PPE. It means a lot. The most difficult problem is that, although many people in Texas have experienced the pandemic in waves, there has been no respite for frontline health workers. The biggest problem now is morale. Many health professionals fear that this could extend the pandemic ”.
McDeavitt, the senior vice president at the Houston hospital and dean of clinical affairs, said he shared those fears.
“I think the governor’s decision was premature,” he said. “If the goal is to achieve collective immunity, we are not there yet. Masking and detachment are an important bridge to herd immunity. We are still seeing 1,000 new cases a day in Houston. We are receiving about 200 new Covid-19 patients a day in hospitals. Yes, the numbers have dropped considerably, but they are still very high. “
Houston Methodist President and CEO Dr. Marc Boom said that the most difficult thing for his exhausted employees to swallow is the knowledge that “we are 90 to 120 days away from a much better situation”.
“Our team is tired and we are still in the middle of a third wave,” he said. “Now, everyone is thinking about a fourth wave of infections.”
Why? Because last month’s terrible winter storm, which cut power in much of the state, forced many Texans to leave their homes and go to heated shelters where there was little or no social distance.
“Give us 90 to 120 more days and the world will look much better,” said Boom. “Wearing a mask may not be mandatory, but it is a personal responsibility, as the governor himself said. And we are encouraging people to continue wearing their masks ”.
Both Boom and McDeavitt said that no matter what happens, thanks to vaccines, any new wave will not be as bad as previous waves of infections.
“As I said, I think the governor’s decision was premature and I think it will cause another outbreak,” said McDeavitt. “But I don’t think this is Armageddon. I don’t think it’s the end of the world. There is a light at the end of the tunnel and it is approaching. “
Abbott, a Republican who resisted the imposition of restrictions at the start of the pandemic, surprised Texans on Tuesday by suddenly suspending the state’s mask mandate, repealing many of Covid-19’s health guidelines and declaring: “Now it’s time to open Texas 100 percent. “
That same day, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves announced that he was withdrawing his state’s mask mandate. He is also a Republican.
“We never try to say that we are trying to prevent all Mississippi residents from contracting the virus,” Reeves told Fox Business Network on Wednesday. “Our goal has always been to protect the integrity of our health system so that, if someone catches the virus, if they can improve with quality care, they receive that quality care.”
President Joe Biden called Abbott and Reeves’ movements examples of “Neanderthal thinking” and criticized both leaders for easing restrictions, even after the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned against complacency in the face of emerging variants of the coronavirus .
“I think it’s a big mistake,” said Biden on Wednesday. “Look, I hope everyone has realized that masks make a big difference.”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, however, praised Abbott and said the governor “has moved in the absolutely right direction”.
“This is a pandemic that would spread in one way or another, and there are certainly things we can do to protect ourselves, but we cannot protect everyone all the time and it will spread to some extent,” Paxton said Wednesday on Fox News. “I just think it’s time for individual responsibility as opposed to government oversight.”
Paxton, a Republican under investigation by the FBI for allegedly using his office to help a wealthy political donor, was harshly criticized last March after suggesting that he and other grandparents would be willing to risk their health and their lives for the United States to reopen and “Get back to work” in the midst of the pandemic.
Dr. Matt Dacso, a clinician at the University of Texas Medical Branch, told The Houston Chronicle that Abbott’s ad struck him as an episode of post-traumatic stress disorder.
“I can’t think of any other word but incomprehensible,” he said. “Everyone is suffering, but wow, man. The masks were doing a lot for us. “
San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg said that abandoning the mask’s mandate and opening companies with 100% capacity is a “big mistake”.
“Covid-19 is still widespread in our community and infecting many of our vulnerable residents,” he said in a statement on Tuesday. “You don’t cut your parachute as soon as you lower your descent.”
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo noted that Abbott’s announcement came at a time when Texas was trying to get the vaccine distribution back on track after it was hampered by the deadly winter storm that cut power in much of the state. Abbott and the rest of the Republicans who run much of the state were scolded by residents angry at the failure of the Texas power grid.
“With the arrival of Covid-19 vaccines, we are getting closer and closer to the finish line of this pandemic – now is not the time to reverse the gains we have worked so hard to achieve,” she said on Tuesday. “At best, today’s decision is an illusion. At worst, it is a cynical attempt to distract Texans from the failures of state supervision of our power grid. “
In Mississippi, hospital administrators said they were ready for the worst.
“The easy answer is that the governor’s announcement will not affect us,” said Marc Rolph, a spokesman for the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson. “We never let our guard down, so there is no need to do any extra preparation work. We know that the governor’s decision increases the chance of another increase, but we are already preparing for another. “