SAN ANTONIO – While stressing that the state’s approach has been “very cautious,” Texas Governor Greg Abbott told KSAT 12 News that a new round of announcements on reopening businesses will come on Monday.
Abbott spoke to KSAT 12 News Tuesday about the state’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, his mandate to test nursing home residents and staff and the state’s efforts to reopen daycare services for the children of nonessential workers.
San Antonio doctors warn of possible ‘COVID cliff’ for patients recovering from virus
When asked about the feedback he’s received since opening businesses, Abbott said all his plans are vetted by four doctors on his task force to make sure businesses can reopen safely.
“These doctors are looking at every plan we provide to them as we get ready for next round of announcements that will take place this coming Monday,” Abbott said.
Some medical experts have expressed their concerns with how quickly states are reopening. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told the Senate Tuesday that opening too quickly “will not only result in needless suffering and death, but would actually set us back on our quest to return to normal.”
Abbott acknowledged some of the challenges that come with reopening.
Texas has to curb the COVID-19 outbreaks in prisons, nursing homes and meatpacking plants, Abbott said, and parents need to be able to put their children in daycare.
“In a childcare center children, you have children coming from collectively thousands of different home settings,” Abbott said. “There’s so many different exposures involved in this. We’ve got to find a way to do it, but safely.”
Abbott said his team has been working with doctors and childcare provider experts to come up with a plan on how to reopen daycares.