Coronavirus? What coronavirus? Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced "Effective next Wednesday, all businesses of any type are allowed to open 100%," adding "Also, I am ending the statewide mask mandate."
That means all concert venues can resume normal operation in the Lone Star state as soon as next week. Abbott continued “If businesses want to limit capacity or implement add'l safety protocols, they have the right to do so. It is their business, & they get to choose to operate their biz the way they want to. At this time, though, ppl & biz don’t need the state telling them how to operate."
Abbott concluded "Today's announcement doesn’t abandon safe practices that Texans have mastered over the past year. Instead, it’s a reminder that each person has a role to play in their own personal safety & the safety of others."
There is currently a seven day average of 7,600 new cases of coronavirus a day in Texas, with about 228 people dying each day.
Update: Mississippi has announced they are lifting their mandates tomorrow.
Just earlier today, we reported the CEO of Live Nation Michael Rapino said he hoped outdoor shows could return this summer, saying he hoped festivals "can start in midsummer and in the southern U.S. we can go all the way into November."
The United States currently has about 15% of its population on the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 7.1% on their first dose.
Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci said in an interview that he believed vaccines in the U.S. may provide enough herd immunity to allow live music to resume this fall.
"If everything goes right, this is will occur some time in the fall of 2021," Fauci said, "so that by the time we get to the early to mid-fall, you can have people feeling safe performing onstage as well as people in the audience."
In England, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a four step plan to detail how they will ease the lockdown. The plan included a provision that night clubs could open as soon as June 21st to begin "large" live events.
Outdoor entertainment can resume as soon as May 17th with 4,000 people or 50% capacity. Outdoor seated events would be allowed up to 10,000 people or 25% capacity.
The final phase of lockdown lifting would be as soon as June 21st and would have no legal limits on gathering and allow night clubs to open. More details here.
