“To state the obvious, COVID-19 is now spreading at an unacceptable rate in Texas, and it must be corralled,” (Gov.. Greg) Abbott said during a news conference at the Texas Capitol in Austin.

There you have it. The Texas governor is beginning to sound alarmed — although it’s of the “somewhat alarmed” variety about the pandemic that is showing new signs of life … and is bringing more death to human beings in Texas and around the country.

“Corralling” the virus needs to occur, to state the other obvious element of this story.

Abbott has been blaming young people for being cavalier about the threat the virus is bringing. He said they aren’t observing “social distancing” guidelines.

For the life of me I do not understand why the governor doesn’t issue an order requiring businesses to mandate face masks among everyone who enters their establishments. Nor do I get why he resists local governments from mandating social distancing, restricting occupancy, demanding that Texans behave in a manner that limits the spread of the killer viral infection.

He’s not doing that. Abbott today said that Texans should take voluntary measures to avoid becoming infected. Voluntary? How is that going to work, governor. The state opened up its beaches and Texans rushed to Gulf Coast by the thousands, ignoring social distancing recommendations.

The Texas Tribune reports: Texas has broken its record for the number of people hospitalized with the virus for 11 consecutive days. On Monday, that number was 3,711. Saturday saw the highest number of new daily reported cases yet — 4,430. The positivity rate, presented by the state as a seven-day average, has increased to 8.8%, on par with where it was in late April.

I want to acknowledge that my wife and I are continuing to observe a “shelter in place” policy in our home. We aren’t staying home 24/7. We are taking our recreational vehicle out on occasion, but limiting our visits to state parks; we camp in our fifth wheel and stay far, far away from other RV campers. That all said, we have no intention of entering a restaurant, a bowling alley, a movie theater for any form of recreational activity. Our visits to retail establishments will include face masks, sanitizing liquid and sanitary wipes.

I don’t mention this to suggest that we are paragons of virtue in this crisis. I mention it only to suggest that others could observe the need to take greater care to avoid exposing themselves or others to a virus that could kill them.

If they don’t, then our government leaders need to frighten the bejeebers out of them.