AUSTIN, Texas — Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday ordered all Texans to wear face coverings in public, with a limited number of exceptions, a sharp reversal that underscored the severity of the coronavirus outbreak that has surged out of control in Texas.
The executive order, announced the afternoon before the Fourth of July holiday weekend, followed sustained lobbying from leaders in the state’s largest cities, who are mostly Democrats, and came in the face of likely opposition from Republicans in the state, many of whom already chafed at Mr. Abbott’s mandates from Austin.
The Republican governor has increasingly cited face masks as a key step in keeping the coronavirus at bay, but he had repeatedly stopped short of requiring their use until Thursday’s order.
“One of the best ways to keep businesses open, while also slowing the spread, is to wear a face mask like this,” he said in a taped video address from his office, holding a cloth mask in the colors of the Texas flag.
Mr. Abbott said the scale of the outbreak in Texas caused him to act. On Wednesday, the state had 8,100 new cases, its highest single-day total. The average number of people hospitalized for Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, has tripled since late May, the governor said.
The governor’s order, which goes into effect on Friday, provides for fines of up to $250 per violation after an initial warning, but no jail time. In April, when the state initially appeared to have its outbreak under control, Mr. Abbott had blocked municipalities from imposing fines.
But amid the accelerating rise in cases, the governor changed course. He described Thursday’s order as a necessary step to avoid thrusting the state back into lockdown.
“We need to refocus on slowing the spread, but this time we want to do it without closing down Texas again,” the governor said.
It was unclear how Texans, many of whom regard the decision on mask-wearing to be a matter of personal choice, would react to the order. Masks have been required in many of the state’s major cities since last month, when local governments were allowed to decide whether to require them inside businesses. But in areas where they have not been ordered, such as large stretches of West Texas, shoppers at grocery stores and diners at restaurants often eschew them.
Democratic leaders largely praised the order. “Governor Abbott did the right thing in this instance,” said Armando Walle, a state representative from Houston, the Texas city hardest hit by the pandemic.
But a number of Republicans, already angered by Mr. Abbott’s move to once again close bars, were upset by the order and the possibility of fines. Some legislators complained that Mr. Abbott had made his decision behind closed doors and had not called the Legislature back into session.
“We need a special session now so legislators can pass laws, not Abbott,” State Representative Tony Tinderholt, a Republican from Arlington, wrote on Twitter.
The governor is in a tough spot,” said Reb Wayne, a Republican political consultant in Austin. “He’s trying to balance the public health and general welfare of the state versus some of the voices within his own political constituency who are not happy.”
He said pressure against imposing the face mask mandate came from what he described as the “libertarian” wing of the Republican Party, which has seen mask-wearing requirements as an assault on personal freedoms. “They were already clamoring prior to this order today,” he said. “He clearly did not do this lightly.”
Lina Hidalgo, the top executive in Harris County, which includes Houston, said in a statement that she welcomed the governor’s move. Ms. Hidalgo had attempted in April to adopt a general requirement for mask-wearing in her county — not just in businesses — that would be enforceable with a fine. But the governor had pre-empted her, and other local officials, from taking such actions.
Ms. Hidalgo said Mr. Abbott’s new order would not be enough to stop the spread of the virus. “I continue to advocate for an enforceable stay-home order in Harris County,” she said in a statement. “I’m afraid that waiting will only lead to more lives lost.”
In San Antonio, Mayor Ron Nirenberg said the new statewide requirement was overdue. “It’s about time,” said Mr. Nirenberg, who describes himself as a progressive independent.
“Unfortunately it has been heavily politicized by state and federal leaders in Texas and across the country,” he said. “I hope its effectiveness is not blunted by the severity of the surge that we’re seeing.”
The governor’s order also authorized mayors and county executives to impose restrictions on some outdoor gatherings of more than 10 people, and required six feet of social distancing in any large gatherings.
“Large gatherings are a clear contributor to the rise in Covid-19 cases,” he said, adding that “restricting the size of group gatherings will strengthen Texas’ ability to corral this virus and keep Texans safe.”
The face mask order, which has certain exceptions for young children, people with medical conditions and people eating in restaurants or exercising outdoors, applies in all counties that have 20 or more cases of the coronavirus.
It is also the latest sign that Republicans are increasingly embracing masks, as the virus spreads in Republican-led states in the South and the West. Vice President Mike Pence pointedly wore a mask at a church visit in Dallas on Sunday, and this week President Trump, who has resisted wearing a mask in public, said: “I’m all for masks. I think masks are good.”
The mask order was immediately the talk of Texas. On the patio of a restaurant in downtown Lubbock, a conservative college town in West Texas, opinion was divided and the discussion was animated among a group of a half-dozen unmasked people who had just come from a funeral.
Tye Stewart, 37, said that although he was not wearing a mask at the moment, while he drank a beer, he had kept one on for the entire funeral in the 100-degree heat. “I was sweating, but it’s not that bad,” he said.
Janessa Black, 29, a restaurant worker, said she, too, generally wore a mask when outside her home. “I wear a mask to protect other people,” she said. “It’s only fair that they wear masks to protect me.”
David Montgomery reported from Austin and J. David Goodman reported from Lubbock, Texas. Sarah Mervosh contributed reporting.
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