Biden Covid Team Rips Texas Decision to Reopen: ‘Health Officials From EVERY State’ Tell Them It’s Too Soon to End Mask Mandates

Members of President Joe Biden’s White House COVID-19 Response Team ripped Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s decision to completely reopen and end mask mandates, and said that health officials “from every state” have weighed in to slam the decision as well. That would appear to include Texas.

On Wednesday morning, White House Senior Advisor for COVID-19 Response Andy Slavitt, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and Dr. Rochelle Walensky briefed reporters, and did not mention Texas’ decision during their opening remarks.

But several reporters questioned the team on the lifting of restrictions, which President Biden himself has already condemned.

Over the course of three different questions on the reopening and ending of mask mandates, members of the team stressed the importance of continuing to use those measures.

“I think we have the CDC have been very clear that now is not the time to release all restrictions,” Dr. Walensky told reporters, and added that “the next month or two is really pivotal in terms of how this pandemic goes as we scale up vaccination, we really do need to reduce the amount of virus that is circulating.”

Walensky pointed out that the decision by Abbott did not prevent people from continuing to take precautions, and said “I would still encourage individuals to wear a mask, to socially distance, and do the right things to protect their own health.”

Slavitt talked about the President’s emphasis, saying “I don’t think he could possibly be any clearer about the importance and the need for masks. As a leader it’s probably one of the top things he talks about most frequently, he models that behavior, he has made the order on every possible area where we have federal control.”

“We know that it can save tens of thousands of lives if people do this, and we strongly encourage people to continue to wear masks, and mayors governors and others, recognizing that they have difficult decisions to make, to keep the course,” Slavitt said.

And later in the presser, Slavitt revealed that officials from every state have denounced the move by Texas.

“We are in constant conversation with the states,” Slavitt said when asked about his team’s communications on the Texas decision behind the scenes, and added that “there are plenty of people, health officials as you know, in every state who feel that it is the wrong time to lift the mask mandate.”

He added that “it’s actually the most important time” to keep up the precautions, and that “I think that’s a commonly shared sentiment, not just from us but from public health experts everywhere. So hopefully the country will continue to rally together on this front.”

Watch the clip above via The White House.