Gov. Greg Abbott recommends masks days after deeming actual mask mandate unnecessary

Gov. Greg Abbott still wants you to cover up.

After the Texas governor repealed the statewide mask mandate and declared Texas would "100 percent" open, perhaps one could assume Abbott is ready for all of us to openly breathe and cough on one another again.

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No, Abbott still wants you to wear a mask. He just won't uphold the statewide mandate that said so.

"We are still urging people to continue to wear the mask, to continue to use the safe practices that they have mastered over the past year," Abbott said in an interview with Houston's ABC13. "They know the right thing to do."

Abbott also told ABC13 that he does wear a mask and will continue to do so.

The Texas governor announced Tuesday that the statewide mask mandate would end March 10, Chron's Jay Jordan reported. Abbott declared that "state mandates are no longer needed" in a speech to the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce, citing recent encouraging COVID-19 data.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (and Abbott, apparently) still recommends wearing masks to help slow the spread of COVID-19 as vaccines continue to be administered across the state.

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Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo and Mayor Sylvester Turner expressed frustration toward Abbott for lifting the mandate as Texas was making progress against the virus, Jordan reported.

"Every time we start moving in the right direction the Governor steps in and sets us back and makes all of our jobs harder," Turner wrote on Twitter. "He minimizes the sacrifices of people and businesses. I just don’t get it."

Despite Abbott lifting the mandate, hundreds of businesses and numerous school districts have clarified that they will still enforce mask-wearing and social distancing. So will the municipal buildings in Texas' largest cities.

In summary: Ignore the mixed messaging and wear the mask.