Governor Abbott's Texas Independence Day announcement has many Texans looking forward to the reopening of the state. On March 10th, businesses in Texas will be permitted to reopen at 100% capacity. The date will also bring an end to the requirement to wear masks in some places but not all.

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Most people we have heard from since the big announcement realize this is far from an 'all-clear'. It is no such thing. While the Governor is giving us all a chance to wear our big boy and girl pants and take precautions as we see fit, it is important to remember that if hospitalizations climb back above 15% for 7 days that locally the county may ask us to return to wearing masks. The other thing to remember is that stores may still require employees and customers to wear masks. We've all gotten pretty good about looking at signs on so many front entrances for indications on covid precautions in a given business. We will need to keep doing that.

Texas Public Radio in San Antonio reports that H-E-B has announced that its stores will still require employees to wear masks and that they will strongly encourage customers to continue to wear them while shopping in the stores. They will not force you to wear a mask at H-E-B, but you are encouraged to continue to do so.

The statement from H-E-B as reported by TPB:

Although there is no longer a statewide mask order, H-E-B believes it is important that masks be worn in public spaces until more Texans and our Partners have access to the Covid-19 vaccine. As an essential service provider during the pandemic, H-E-B is focused on the health and safety of our Partners and customers. H-E-B will still require all our Partners and vendors to wear masks while at work, and we urge all customers to please wear a mask when in our stores.

Many companies are applauding Governor Abbott's decision to let businesses decide for themselves about precautions. With vaccine and therapeutic options on the rise and becoming more available, there is hope that COVID-19 numbers will stay below the 15% mark in the Crossroads.

So remember, you probably want to continue to keep a couple of clean and ready-to-use masks available in your car in case you do encounter a business that is still requiring preventative measures. They just want to help keep everyone as healthy as possible.

LOOK: Answers to 30 common COVID-19 vaccine questions

While much is still unknown about the coronavirus and the future, what is known is that the currently available vaccines have gone through all three trial phases and are safe and effective. It will be necessary for as many Americans as possible to be vaccinated in order to finally return to some level of pre-pandemic normalcy, and hopefully these 30 answers provided here will help readers get vaccinated as soon they are able.

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