New Years weekend amid a surge in COVID-19 cases. On March 2, 2021, Abbott lifted all COVID-19 restrictions in Texas, which included ending a mask mandate and allowing businesses to reopen "100 percent." In April 2021, Abbott signed an executive order banning state agencies and corporations that take public funding from requiring proof of vaccination against COVID-19. In June 2021, he signed a bill that would punish businesses that require customers to have proof of COVID-19 vaccination for services. On May 18, 2021, Abbott issued an executive order banning mask mandates in public schools and governmental entities, with up to a $1,000 fine for non-compliers. On August 17, 2021, Abbott's office announced that he had tested positive for COVID-19 despite being fully vaccinated since December 2020. According to his office, Abbott was "in good health and experiencing no symptoms". He received Regeneron's monoclonal antibody treatment. Abbott emphasized personal responsibility over government restrictions, and resolutely opposed government mandates in August 2021. On July 29, 2021, during an again worsening pandemic, he issued a superseding executive order (GA-38) that reinstated earlier orders and imposed additional prohibitions on local governmental officials, state agencies, public universities, and businesses doing business with the state, to prohibit them from adopting measures such as requiring face masks or proof of vaccination status as a condition of service. The order also provides for a $1,000 fine for local officials who adopt inconsistent policies. President Biden criticized Abbott for these measures. The ban on mask mandates led to a score of legal challenges between Abbott and local governments, including school districts. In justifying the ban on local government mandates in August 2021, an Abbott spokesperson said, "Private businesses don't need government running their business." In October 2021, Abbott issued an executive order that banned any entity, including a private business, from implementing a vaccine requirement for its employees. February 2021 North American ice storm During the February 13–17, 2021 North American winter storm, power-plant failures across Texas left four million households in Texas without power. Abbott called for investigation and reform of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the electric grid operator for most of Texas. On February 16, on Hannity, Abbott said, "This shows how the Green New Deal would be a deadly deal for the United States of America ... Our wind and our solar got shut down, and they were collectively more than 10 percent