Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon continues to loosen restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing indoor attended sporting events, while in Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott recently moved most businesses up to 75% occupancy from 50% occupancy.
“Wyoming has really held its own,” Gordon, a Republican, said in a release. “Schools are open and sports are being played on Fridays and Saturdays. We want to be careful to avoid going backward and losing the high ground we hold. Steady progress beats the alternative, which would be devastating to our businesses, schools and citizens.”
Gordon said easing of restrictions further came about after the Labor Day holiday produced no serious spike in virus cases.
Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon
| By MikesGroover/Wikimedia Commons
As of Sept. 15, indoor close-contact activities are permitted, including sports in all settings. Restrictions on outdoor sports were eased in August and contact sports were also permitted.
Current orders in Wyoming mandate 50% capacity at outdoor gatherings and a maximum of 1,000 people as long as social distancing of 6 feet apart and safety/sanitation measures are observed.
As of Sept. 15, Wyoming recorded 3,762 cases of the virus, the press release noted.
Gordon’s new health order into October allows 250 people inside a building (with social distancing and sanitation) during gatherings and businesses are limited to 50 people. Restaurants are allowed groups of eight people, up from the previous six.
Gordon, a Republican, never ordered Wyoming residents to stay home and started lifting restrictions in May. Gyms and and personal care service facilities opened in April.
In Texas, Abbott also loosened restrictions letting most businesses achieve 75% occupancy except for select groups still allowed 50% including weddings and bowling alleys. Abbott said bars in the state are to remain closed.
“They [bars] are nationally recognized as COVID-spreading locations,” he told the Texas Tribune.
Three areas of Texas, Rio Grande Valley, Laredo and Victoria, all border areas, remain under tighter restrictions because they are determined to be in a COVID-19 “danger zone” with 15% or more of all hospitalizations statewide.
The Texas Tribune report said loosening of restrictions is due to declining numbers of the virus. Texas recorded 3,249 hospitalizations over several days as of Sept. 17, while the number over a one-week period in July was 10,000.
However, the report added that state health officials had determined the recording procedure for calculating positive rates, the ratio of cases to tests, had been flawed and that a new system would be employed.
Critics, including Democrats in Texas, said Abbott is loosening restrictions and making pronouncements based on “dirty data.”
"There was no mention of a contact tracing program, no mention of improving the state’s unreliable data and no mention of expanding Medicaid to increase access to health care for millions of Texans who are uninsured,” Rep. Chris Turner (D-Grand Prairie), chair of the House Democratic Caucus, told the Tribune.
