“If I could go back and redo anything, it probably would have been to slow down the opening of bars,” Abbott said in a TV interview Friday evening.
Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday expressed regret for the first known time about the reopening process he spearheaded during the coronavirus pandemic, saying he should not have allowed bars to open as quickly.
“If I could go back and redo anything, it probably would have been to slow down the opening of bars, now seeing in the aftermath of how quickly the coronavirus spread in the bar setting,” Abbott said during an evening interview with KVIA in El Paso.
Abbott added that the “bar setting, in reality, just doesn’t work with a pandemic,” noting people “go to bars to get close and to drink and to socialize, and that’s the kind of thing that stokes the spread of the coronavirus.”
Abbott’s comments came hours after he shut down bars across the state as part of a series of moves to contain a coronavirus spike in Texas. He also scaled back restaurant capacity to 50%, shut down rafting and tubing businesses, and banned outdoor gatherings of over 100 people unless approved by local officials.
Abbott permitted bars to reopen for the first time on May 22, at 25% indoor capacity. On June 3, he allowed bars to move to 50% capacity as long as customers are seated.
“Gov. Greg Abbott expresses regret over reopening Texas bars during coronavirus” was first published at https://www.texastribune.org/2020/06/26/greg-abbott-texas-bars-regret/ by The Texas Tribune. The Texas Tribune is proud to celebrate 10 years of exceptional journalism for an exceptional state.
