Sharjah24 – Reuters: Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued the most sweeping rollback of coronavirus restrictions of any U.S. state on Tuesday, lifting a mask mandate and saying most businesses may open at full capacity next week.

Abbott's executive order comes as many U.S. states and major cities seeing a sharp decline in coronavirus infections and hospitalizations begin to ease the unprecedented lockdowns put in place a year ago.

"It is now time to open Texas 100%," Abbott, a first-term Republican, told a news conference. He said the order would take full effect on March 10.

The order lifts all mask requirements statewide and forbids local authorities from penalizing residents who do not wear a face covering. It removes all restrictions on businesses in counties without a high number of hospitalisations.

Local officials can still apply limits to businesses where hospitalizations remain high, according to the order, but were prohibited from mandating that they operate at less than 50% capacity.

The governor said he was able to lift the restrictions because Texas, the third most-populous U.S. state, had administered nearly 5.7 million vaccine shots to its 29 million residents.