Texas AG says 'people can't sit on the sidelines with no job eternally' as gov moves to reopening 'phase two'
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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton told "Bill Hemmer Reports" Monday that he was "encouraged" by the progress the state has made against the coronavirus as Gov. Greg Abbott announced he was moving to "phase two" of his plan to reopen the state's economy.
"He's opening up all different types of businesses," Paxton said of Abbott. "Restaurants are going from 25 percent [capacity] to 50 percent. He's allowing child care to be taken care of.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Now, office buildings, 10 employees or up to 25 percent of your employees," Paxton said. "Opening up bars at 25 percent [capacity]. So there's a lot of changes going forward starting this week. And then also, camps [are] opening up this summer starting June 1st, schools, summer schools [can] open June 1st."
The orders announced by Abbott Monday allow zoos and bowling alleys to open up, though theme parks will remain closed. The governor said social distancing measures would remain in place and also kept broad restictions in effect for El Paso and Amarillo, two cities that have seen a surge in new coronavirus cases.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}As the state has reopened, the raw number of coronavirus cases and deaths has spiked, though health officials say the percentage of new cases has dropped as the state has boosted testing.
"So we have almost 28 million people, maybe more than 28 million people in Texas and 1,200 people have passed away," Paxton said. "Obviously, one is too many. But the reality is, it's been a relatively low number and people can't sit on the sidelines with no job eternally. So I think the governor is moving at a pace that needs to be moved at and I'm encouraging as much opening is as we possibly can do.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"There's no reason you can't step back if you need to," Paxton added. "But I'm pretty encouraged. I mean, the numbers are relatively low from what was originally predicted. And if you'll remember, the original reason we did this [lockdown] was to make sure we had enough hospital beds, ventilators and equipment, and we clearly had that."
"And so there's really no reason not to move forward with, with opening up the economy."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.