Greg Abbott, the Governor of Texas, who has prohibited the use of masks in schools despite objections from several school districts, has caught the coronavirus himself. Abbott’s office confirmed that the Republican Governor, who has been appropriately vaccinated and is checked on a regular basis, received a positive test result on Tuesday afternoon.
Governor Abbott’s communications director, Mark Miner, said in a statement that the Governor is in continuous contact with his team, agency heads, as well as other government officials in guaranteeing that this state government lasts to run smoothly and effectively.
The Governor will isolate himself in the Governor’s Mansion, and it will continue to test every day until the situation is resolved. Governor Abbott is undergoing therapy with a monoclonal antibody developed by Regeneron.
Several Lawmakers Who Rejected Vaccination Have Tested Positive
Last October, President Donald Trump received the same therapy that was successful in helping him conquer his fight with COVID-19. Abbott is one of a number of Republican lawmakers opposed to vaccination and mask requirements who have lately been afflicted with the virus, following in the footsteps of Wisconsin state Sen.
Andre Jacque and Keith Kidwell, North Carolina state Rep., were both previously sick with the illness. In response to Abbott’s position on the issue of virus mitigation measures, parent and campaigner groups have expressed outrage. One of these groups, Marked by COVID, said in a statement Tuesday that Abbott has continued to work harder to keep masks out from schools than he has worked to keep guns out of schools in recent years.
His persistent and ruthless pursuit of controlling mandates in the name of bodily autonomy led him to contract COVID, which he is now using every resource at his disposal, but he refuses disagrees to allow local governments to utilize their own resources to assist in saving lives.’
In Texas, at least four school districts have shuttered campuses as a result of coronavirus epidemics that occurred early in the new academic year. Abbott was in Collin County on Monday, and images posted to social media show him interacting with the largely uncovered audience, shaking hands and posing for selfies with them. Abbott, 63, is “in excellent health, and at this time, he is not suffering any symptoms,” according to Miner.
In July, Abbott issued an executive order prohibiting governmental organizations from demanding “vaccine passports,” and he went even further by extending that prohibition to the private sector as of September 1. Texas health authorities have sought five mortuary trailers from the federal government in preparation for a potential rise in fatalities caused by an increase in coronavirus numbers in the state, according to the state’s health department.
In a statement to The Washington Post, Douglas Loveday, spokesman of the Texas Department of State Health Services, confirmed that the state’s Department of State Health Services had requested five mortuary trailers from the Federal Emergency Management Agency on August 4 through the Texas Division of Emergency Management.
The request was made as a precaution, Loveday said. Previous reports from NBC News indicated that the state needed mortuary trailers.
The trailers will be maintained in San Antonio in case any neighboring communities need the extra resources, but Loveday said that no such requests had been received at this time. Despite this, authorities in the state anticipate a possible need for similar trailers in the future.
Mobile and refrigerated funeral vehicles were a frightening image of the pandemic’s early waves for many people. Trailers were brought to cities in order to keep up with the increasing number of fatalities. In some cases, they were said to have stayed in situ as temporary morgues for months after the outbreak began.
