Government

Factbox: Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus European Union leaders will meet on Thursday to try to speed up the production and rollout of vaccines in a race against the emergence of new variants that some fear could bring a third wave of the pandemic across the continent. Reuters Staff U.S.

* The World Health Organization is working with the European Commission to coordinate vaccine donations for other countries on the continent, the head of its European office said.

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/02/26/world/covid-19-coronavirus#governors-relax-restrictions-as-infection-numbers-fall

With the coronavirus slowly receding, governors around the United States are beginning to relax pandemic restrictions.

But the rules ae being eased much in the same way as they were imposed: in a patchwork fashion that largely falls along party lines. Republicans are leaning toward rollbacks, and Democrats are staying the course or offering a more cautious approach.

On Thursday, Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas said he was considering lifting a statewide mask mandate that has been in place since July.

“We’re working right now on evaluating when we’re going to be able to remove all statewide orders, and we will be making announcements about that pretty soon,” Mr. Abbott said.