Gov. Greg Abbott announced Monday that bars, wine tasting rooms, and craft breweries can reopen in Texas this Friday. They will be restricted to 25% capacity.
Restaurants, which have been restricted to 25% capacity since the beginning of May, will be able to expand to 50% on Friday. On Monday, child care services were able to resume immediately. Additionally, office spaces, nonessential manufacturing businesses, and gyms were permitted to reopen.
Abbott let his state’s stay-at-home order expire April 30 and reopened parts of the economy on a limited basis on May 1, including restaurants, movie theaters, and shopping malls.
“Safe practices save lives,” Abbott said at his press conference Monday. He reminded residents to maintain social distancing practices and to continue to wear face masks when appropriate.
The lifting of restrictions comes in the wake of the biggest one-day jump of coronavirus cases in the Lone Star State. Over 1,800 new cases were reported on Saturday. Over 700 news cases were reported on Friday in Potter and Randall counties, a region where meatpacking plants have been targeted for increased testing.
Thirty-three new deaths were also reported on Saturday, bringing the total number of fatalities in Texas to 1,305.
