Texas governor's ban on mask mandates faces legal challenges as hospitalizations soar

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Tue, 2021-08-10 09:19 — mike kraft

Covid-19 latest updates: Texas governor faces legal challenges on mask mandate ban as hospitalizations soar Gov. Greg Abbott (R) is asking hospitals to scale back non-urgent procedures as coronavirus infections and hospital admissions increase sharply. Bryan Pietsch, Adela Suliman, Hannah Knowles Washington Post

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) is asking hospitals to stop non-emergency medical procedures to free up space for covid-19 patients as a rise in new infections limits the availability of hospital beds to treat them.

Yet as Abbott touted the move as “taking action” to combat coronavirus cases that are now averaging more than 10,000 each day in the state, his order to ban mask mandates is facing challenges.

Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins, a Democrat and elected official, said Monday evening he filed a temporary restraining order against the ban, declaring that the governor lacks the legal authority to impose it.

“This is about ensuring there’s adequate medical resources and hospital bed capacity to take care of people with [coronavirus] and any other condition that requires medical care or hospitalization,” Jenkins tweeted. A children’s advocacy group also filed a lawsuit challenging Abbott’s order on Sunday. A representative for Abbott did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Hospitalizations across the United States have soared past the peak seen in last summer’s Sun Belt surge, straining resources in hotspot states, such as Texas, which have resisted renewing pandemic restrictions. Current hospitalizations for the virus passed 68,000 nationwide on Monday — well over last summer’s high of about 66,000 — as daily new admissions approached 15,000. ...

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