AUSTIN, Texas — Even though COVID-19 infections are rising, Gov. Greg Abbott is making it clear there will not be another lockdown. He's sticking with his reopening plan even as other states shut down.

Abbott and other Republican leaders have emphasized the need to balance public health with the state's economic recovery. Since September, the governor has relied on a plan that reduces reopenings regionally based on hospitalizations. But public health experts caution against that because hospitalizations provide a delayed look into the state of an outbreak.

One of Abbott's own medical advisers told Capital Tonight earlier this week more restrictions are needed right now.

"This is going to be a tough couple of months ahead and we really do need to think about some further steps," said Dr. Mark McClellan, who’s also a former FDA Commissioner.

While Abbott balances the economic effects, an economist says the lockdowns aren’t purely the reason for a slowdown.

“Just the fact that the infection rate is going back up again and people are going to be concerned about going out again and contacting people with the virus, that’s enough to slow down economic activity. We have evidence to support that now,” said Michael Sadler, an economics and finance professor at UT-Austin.  

Sadler says in the absence of a vaccine, there’s going to be decline in economic activity whether there’s a lockdown or not.

“There needs to be more of an emphasis on tamping this down because people are not going to be confident about engaging in economic activity, regardless of whether there’s a lockdown,” he said.

Sadler also added another coronavirus relief package is extremely important for economic recovery.