Reeves gets checked for COVID-19 after ‘large number’ of MS lawmakers test positive
Saying “a large number of legislators” have tested positive for COVID-19, Gov. Tate Reeves and his family have been tested for the coronavirus.
Reeves said Monday on Facebook Live that he was around at least one legislator who has COVID-19.
Reeves said he is isolating until his test results come back. He spoke alone from his desk, saying he had canceled his regular afternoon news conference with State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs and Mississippi Emergency Management Agency Director Greg Michel.
Reeves did not say when he expects test results. House Speaker Philip Gunn, who has tested positive for COVID-19, was with Reeves and others on the evening of June 30, when the governor signed historic legislation retiring the state flag with its Confederate battle emblem.
Gunn has said that he, too, is in self-isolation, although he was not experiencing serious symptoms.
None of those attending the bill signing were wearing masks, including the governor’s wife and three daughters. Reeves at every opportunity urges Mississippians to social distance, wear masks and avoid large crowds. A mask sat on his desk during his Facebook Live appearance.
In his short talk, Reeves said:
“We are hopeful that we will test negative. I think more than anything else this is a reminder to all of us that this virus is very contagious.
He reminded those over 65 or with compromised immune systems to stay home and be very careful.
“I want to remind everyone that this virus is real, it’s dangerous and it’s spreading rapidly,” he said, “not only in our state but in states around the country.”
Reeves also criticized the “hypocrisy” of the national media for ignoring what he sees as a reason the virus has spread: the mass protests across the nation that followed George Floyd’s death on May 25.
He said large gatherings at barbecues can’t be the only reason the virus is spreading so rapidly.
On Monday, the Mississippi State Health Department reported a total of 31,257 COVID-19 cases statewide, 1,114 deaths and 22,167 presumed recoveries.
Reeves said he does not want to return the state to a lock down, but one would be needed if hospitals are overrun with COVID-19 patients. He fears a shortage of beds and ventilators if people are not more careful.
“It would be horrible for us as a state economically to actually go back into a scenario where we were shutting down businesses,” the governor said.
After his news conference, Reeves tweeted a picture of an “official order on my youngest daughter’s bedroom door!” It asks that anyone who enters put on a mask until test results are back.
This story was originally published July 6, 2020 at 3:27 PM with the headline "Reeves gets checked for COVID-19 after ‘large number’ of MS lawmakers test positive."
