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Governor Abbott says he has no plans to renew Texas' COVID-19 disaster declaration later this week. The declaration has been in effect since the pandemic arrived in 2020. Abbott has stated that he kept it in place to support his executive orders banning local COVID restrictions. Earlier this month, Abbott signed a bill into law that bars local governments from mandating masks, vaccines or shutdowns in response to COVID-19. The law takes effect September 1st. Abbott's final 30-day renewal of the state's disaster declaration was on May 15th.