As Gov. Greg Abbott continues to keep mum on specific plans to reopen Texas from the government-imposed Chinese coronavirus shutdowns, Texans grow increasingly frustrated with the lack of direction and sense of urgency.
Now the chorus of lawmakers calling for a swift plan is growing.
On Wednesday, State Rep. Steve Toth (R–Woodlands) sent a letter to Abbott requesting permission for his constituents to return to work “immediately.”
“We don’t feel that a phased approach will open up the economy quickly enough—will you allow healthy people to go back to work immediately while allowing the medically fragile to stay at home?”
Toth says he submitted that question to Abbott ahead of a conference call he held last week with lawmakers, in which questions were pre-screened.
“Unfortunately, your schedule prevented you from answering my constituent’s deepest concern. That is why I am respectfully asking you again to address our question.”
Toth went on to say that Montgomery County, of which he represents a portion of in the Texas House, has only experienced seven deaths due to the virus, five of which happened in a single senior living apartment complex in his district. One of the deceased lived outside of Texas.
Additionally, Toth says Montgomery County has also experienced “significantly more suicides” that deaths due to the Chinese coronavirus.
“My constituents have followed requests and orders to socially distance. But now that supply chains are established and we have supplies and capacity, why can’t we truly reopen Texas? With a death rate from Covid-19 proving to be this low, how can we not?”
Toth finished his letter with a simple request: “Let my constituents go to work while they are still listening because they are going to go back to work regardless, as their lives depend on it.”
The full letter can be viewed here.
