'A recipe for disaster': Health care workers react to dropped mask mandates and lifted COVID-19 restrictions

 Health care workers on the front lines of the pandemic are warning that reopening too soon is a "recipe for disaster" after a string of states dropped mask mandates and rolled back COVID-19 restrictions.

Last week, Texas and Mississippi dropped mask mandates, sparking concern that it could lead to another surge in cases -- but experts in states that already rescinded face-covering requirements said infections still may decline if the public stays vigilant.

Dr. Natasha Kathuria, an emergency room doctor and global health specialist from Austin, Texas, said returning to normal life will endanger nurses, front-line workers and the elderly.

"We fear that opening our economy to 100%, just before spring break, is a recipe for disaster," she said, noting that young people across the country flock to the South to enjoy the warm weather in March.

She said without a mask requirement front-line workers are "at exceptional risk for potential confrontation with patients who may be unwilling to wear a mask now that there is no mandate."

"Texas was the most aggressive state to reopen after our national lockdown, and we became the epicenter for COVID-19 a few months later," she warned. "We cannot risk that again."

Dr. Marc Boom, CEO and president of Houston Methodist Hospital, said easing restrictions too soon is "demoralizing" for front-line workers.

"It has been demoralizing for a lot of very fatigued health care professionals who see that light at the end of the tunnel but feel like the path has gotten rockier," Boom told ABC News.