Gov. Charlie Baker on Wednesday said his administration has “no plans” to lift the statewide mask mandate after Texas became the largest state in America to end the order that was put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

According to a story reported on by WHDH/7 News Boston, Baker stated during a news conference that followed a tour of the West Parish School in Gloucester, "I think the mask mandate has been an important element in both encouraging behavior but also sending a message about the importance of recognizing and understanding that COVID is still very much with us."

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In addition to lifting the Lone Star state’s mask mandate, Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday also did away with limits on the number of diners that restaurants can serve indoors.

Only California and New York have reported more COVID-19 deaths than Texas, public health data shows.

Texas has seen the number of daily COVID-19 cases and deaths plunge, much like Massachusetts has in recent weeks, but Baker said the Bay State will stick to what is a scientifically proven method for guarding against the transmission of the virus.

Governor Baker went on to say:

People need to take precautions, especially with the new variants that are out there…Some of these variants are even more contagious than the stuff we’ve been dealing with for the last 10 months, 11 months, 12 months. We have no plans at this point in time to change the rules with respect to the mask mandate.

North Dakota, Montana, and Iowa have also lifted mask orders in recent weeks.

For the full story, please check it out at WHDH/7 News' website here and we thank them for the update.

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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