Per the Texas Tribune: "As the number of new.....>

US: Per the Texas Tribune: "As the number of new coronavirus cases in Texas

continues to rise and hospitals grow more crowded, Gov. Greg Abbott said

Thursday there is no statewide shutdown looming. Abbott said last week that if

the spread of the virus didn't slow that "the next step would have to be a

lockdown." But in a television interview Thursday he said that there have been

rumors of such a move, and stressed that they were not true. "Let me tell you,

there is no shutdown coming," he told KRIV. Abbott pointed to measures he's

taken in recent weeks, including a statewide mask mandate and an order shutting

down bars, to slow the spread of the virus. It will take a few weeks to see a

reversal in coronavirus case surges, he said."

- This comes after rumours re: the potential for an impending state-wide

lockdown announcement to be made on Friday did the rounds in NY hours.