Coronavirus News

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott opens state back up and rescinds mask mandate

Masks will no longer be mandatory.

Photo courtesy of San Marcos CVB

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has rescinded all COVID-19 restrictions, giving the okay for businesses across the state to reopen to 100 percent capacity and removing the state mandate requiring masks.

Presiding over a press conference at Montelongo's Mexican Restaurant in Lubbock on March 2, Abbott said that Texas is in a better position now than it was when he previously issued restrictions, and that the state no longer needs to tell residents or businesses what to do.

"COVID has not suddenly disappeared, it still exists, but it is clear from the recovery that state mandates are no longer needed," he said. "That's why I'm issuing a new executive order that rescinds most of the executive orders we had in place."

The new order goes into place Wednesday, March 10.

"All businesses of any type are allowed to open 100 percent — any type of industry," he said. "I'm also ending the statewide mask mandate. This does not end personal responsibility or the importance of caring for your family and friends. [You still need] personal vigilance to follow safe standards but state mandates are no longer needed."

"Texans have wrestled with COVID and learned how to conduct their own lives," he said. "If businesses want to limit capacity, it is their business. They get to operate their business the way they want to. At this time, people and businesses don't need state telling them how to operate."

Abbott cited factors that included a recent drop in cases, a drop in hospitalizations, a capacity to do a large number of tests, and the arrival of more than one vaccine.

"We now have the ability to do well over 100,000 tests per day," he said. "We have antibiotic therapeutic drugs to keep people out of hospitals. And now in Texas and across the country, we have vaccines with the ability to give a million shots per week."

His other rationale was the number of people who've contracted the virus and recovered.

"More than 2.5 million people were lab-tested as having recovered, and typically the real number is 4 to 5 times that number, which means that approximately 10 million or more have recovered from COVID and have proven the ability to beat the disease."

Abbott said that county officials could apply their own restrictions if cases began to climb, but restricted them from enforcement.

"If hospitals in any of the 22 hospital regions in Texas rise above 15 percent in that region for seven straight days, then a county judge may use COVID mitigation strategies in their county," he said. "But under no circumstances can a county judge put anyone in jail for not following mandates, and there can be no penalties for not wearing a mask."

"We must restore livelihoods, and it's a reminder that each person has their own role to play in their own personal safety, with individual responsibility rather than a government mandate," he said.

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Hottest Headlines of 2025

The top 10 stories that defined city life in Dallas in 2025

Southern Methodist University class of 2029

SMU/Facebook

Southern Methodist University is the 103rd best college nationwide, and it ranked No. 5 in Texas, Forbes says.

Editor's note: Stories about city life were some of our most-read headlines of the year in Dallas. Readers devoured stories about suburbs, schools, and transportation, curious to see what made the best-of cut for scores of rankings. And, of course, we all needed to check in with the world's richest people and see which ones live in Texas.

Here's a look back at the most-read Dallas city life stories of 2025:

1. 5 Dallas high schools rank among America's best in 2025, per U.S. News. Five prestigious Dallas-area high schools are living up to their reputations for top-tier education after being ranked among the best high schools in the country, according to U.S. News and World Report's annual rankings.

2. 27 Dallas billionaires land on new Forbes list of world's richest people. More billionaires have made it onto the 2025 World's Billionaires List than ever before, according to Forbes. This year, 27 Dallas billionaires are among the richest people in the world, including Elaine Marshall, Lyndal Stephens Greth, and Jerry Jones.

3. Techy Dallas suburb is No. 1 hot spot for remote workers in U.S. A SmartAsset survey of cities with the biggest remote workforces has revealed Frisco is the No. 1 city with the highest share of remote workers in the nation. The study found over 40,000 Frisco residents work from home, which is more than a third of all of the city's workers aged 16 and older (117,193 total workers).

Person working from home Working from home comes with its own challenges, like picking which part of the couch to work from. Photo by Jodie Cook on Unsplash

4. 3 affluent Dallas neighbors dominate new list of wealthiest U.S. suburbs. Three well-to-do Dallas-area communities — University Park, Southlake, and Colleyville — are among the wealthiest suburbs in America in 2025, a report confirmed. The three affluent Dallas neighbors were lauded in GoBankingRates ranking of the 50 wealthiest U.S. suburbs, based on 2022 and 2023 average household income data sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau.

5. 4 Dallas-area universities make 2026 list of world’s best schools. The University of Texas at Dallas, University of North Texas, Southern Methodist University, and University of Texas at Arlington are among the top 1,200 schools included in the QS World University Rankings 2026. The Princeton Review agreed, also naming SMU, UTD, TCU, and University of Dallas to its best-in-the-U.S. list, while Forbes named six DFW universities to its list of America's top colleges.

6. 11 cities around Dallas make list of best places to live in the U.S. Nearly a dozen Dallas suburbs, including perennial favorite Flower Mound, have landed among the best places to live in 2025, according to U.S. News & World Report.

7. Dallas middle school ranks No. 1 in Texas for 2026, per U.S. News. More than a dozen Dallas-Fort Worth elementary and middle schools have excelled on U.S. News and World Report's just-released list of the best K-8 schools in Texas for 2026, with one that's first in class: The No. 1 best middle school in Texas is Dallas ISD's William B. Travis Academy/Vanguard for the Academically Talented and Gifted.

8. North Dallas suburb lauded as 5th best U.S. city for working parents. Frisco already has a reputation as a great place for families and a top spot for remote workers, so it's no surprise that the city has clocked in as one of the best places in the country for working parents, too.

Frisco Frisco ranked No. 5 nationwide in a 2025 study. Visit Frisco/Facebook

9. City of Dallas to put a pause on curbside trash collection issue. In October, the city of Dallas put the curbside trash collection debate on hold. According to a release, the Sanitation Department temporarily paused implementation of an alley-to-curb program that was approved, in order to evaluate additional options for continuing alley service where residents strongly prefer it.

10. Dallas suburb proclaimed 8th best U.S. city to drive in, per report. Dallas roadways are no picnic, but in one neighboring town, it's easy street: A report by WalletHub puts none other than Plano on its list of the top 10 best U.S. cities to drive in for 2025.