Is Houston ready? Texas will begin reopening process on Monday

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Some parts of Texas will begin to gradually reopen this week.

Gov. Greg Abbott announced a phased plan on Friday that allows for some facilities and businesses to expand operations with consideration of social distancing measures.

State parks will reopen to the public on Monday.

Visitors are required to wear facial coverings and be in family groups of no more than five individuals.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/is-houston-ready-texas-will-begin-reopening-process-on-monday/ar-BB12T8qw?li=BBnb7Kz

Are these rules going to be enforced or are they strictly voluntary?

[Aristus]

1. Houston is a fairly blue city.

I wonder why they're agreeing to this...

[KatyMan]

5. Abbot said cities and counties can

have more restrictive rules, just not more lax. Amazingly thought out plan by somebody that's a republican. Mayor Turner and his administration will be the ones that makes the rules in Houston.

[redstatebluegirl]

8. This is all politics. Trump is passing the buck to the governors,

governors are passing the buck to the mayors. I guess next in line are the people.

[Igel]

23. Abbott's pretty consistently done that.

On the other hand, he knows that downtown Houston isn't the same as "downtown" Ozona.

Live in Ozona, social distancing is your life. But even Houston's always social distancing, compared to NYC.

The same logic that says governors know their states better than some bureaucrat in DC and should make decisions based on local conditions and information also says that mayors and county judges know their areas beter than some bureaucrat in the state capital and should make decisions based on local conditions and information.

On rare occasion, politics and common sense line up.

In this case, Trump said he had authority and a lot of blue-state politicians said he didn't. So did some red-state politicians. They were right. In a lot of states, having said they have the power, they don't see that the same reasoning says they should devolve power to those below them in the hierarchy. A lot of those "share power" politicians become instant "it'sssss mine, the preciousssss" as soon as they get it.

Ultimately the choice is the people's. At least in the US and most of Europe. We comply because we consent to being governed or we don't comply. Then they can beat us into compliance or yield to the people.

[cayugafalls]

12. Not sure, but it seems like the State controls the parks, not the city?

The local paper is reporting that the State parks are opening back up. With no mention of push back. Maybe, there are not that many in Houston? I seem to remember a few that were State run.

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/coronavirus-live-update-case-us-2020-death-numbers-15201833.php?cmpid=gsa-chron-result

[Igel]

24. Houston parks pretty much had that rule already.

They closed them over Easter to avoid large gatherings, but before that, at least, the new rule for the state parks sounds like what I heard for city parks.

The rest is treating non-essential stores like restaurants. If it's good for NYC restaurants, it's good for Houston's Mattress Firms. Or whatever.

Don't even know if Houston has a state park its boundaries.

[jimfields33]

2. How do they do it in Washington state?

If I were the Texas Governor, I’d ask Governor Inslee how he did it and what to expect. Of course God forbid a republican talk to a democratic governor whose a success.

[Aristus]

4. We honor intelligence up here. We don't deride it.

As a Texan born-and-raised, I'm always astonished by how, even as the home of some of the finest universities in the land, Texans can be so stupid.

[KatyMan]

9. That's rude and wrong and you know it

this Texas bashing has to stop on DU.

[Aristus]

10. I qualified my statement as best I could.

Texan born-and-raised...finest universities in the land...

Why is my home state being held captive by blockheads?

[KatyMan]

13. Why is Wisconsin?

And isn't Pennsylvania described as Philadelphia and Pittsburgh with Alabama in between? Nasty people exist everywhere, hell, Devin Nunes is a California rep. Why not rag on them?

[Aristus]

15. Because we were talking about Texas.

With which I have a strong emotional connection. If I was from Wisconsin, I would be asking why Wisconsinites are behaving so idiotically.

[KatyMan]

16. Do you think

you don't have the same people in WA?

[Aristus]

17. Sure. We just try to outnumber them.

It's worked so far...

[jimfields33]

20. That's why I think they should do what Washington did when they opened walking trails

And other areas closed in other parts of the country. It doesn’t make sense for Texas to go to the drawing board when a state already implemented policies for the same thing.

[Igel]

25. Virginia's lockdown

for non-essential stores is still laxer than the "loosened" TX regs.

If Texans are stupid for that, I can only imagine what you'd say about Northam.

The details of the order really do matter.

[ResistantAmerican17]

6. I live in the houston burbs, I'm blue to my soul

And I am hiding hell out. Staying home, wearing a mask to the pharmacy, and stink eyeing every magat that violates the social distancing rules..

[KatyMan]

11. Same.

we live in Fort Bend county, listed as one of the most diverse counties in the country, that went blue in 2016, all in for Hillary. People here are all in masks (well mostly except for MAGAts) at the grocery store.

[ResistantAmerican17]

14. I too am in Fort Bend county and the last social gathering I attended

was to vote the entire blue slate of candidates, including Joe Biden on March 3. I was pretty anxious for the two weeks after the primary. We were packed into that polling location pretty tightly.

[Newest Reality]

7. Uh oh.

My spider sense is tingling.

I don't think that's a good idea at all if you want to stem this crisis rather than initiate a second wave that could be worse than the first.

Patience is vital, along with enough testing and tracking FIRST.

There is an old saying that applies here: Good things come to those who wait.

[librechik]

18. I have one word for Texas: Proceed n/t

[KatyMan]

22. Texas

Is going slow. We have a surplus of ICU beds, hospital beds, ventilators. Our schools, universities and most businesses are closed. Perhaps west Texas, which is sparsely populated will reopen faster than the more populated areas. Texas has one of the lowest death rates per million in the country. We are doing ok and will continue to follow social distancing.

Perhaps you can share how your state is coping.

[Gothmog]

19. No HOUSTON is not ready

[KatyMan]

21. Harris county

Is not reopening. I wish people would actually read before they post.
State parks are reopening with social distancing and face coverings. Retail can now have curbside pickup. Almost everything else, including schools, universities, restaurants and most businesses are closed. Hence our horrific unemployment rate.

I saw a lot of pics of New Yorkers out enjoying the sunshine, many without face masks or social distancing.