Reeves begs MS residents to wear masks but takes no new action as COVID-19 cases surge
As COVID-19 cases surge in Mississippi and states like Florida and Texas begin to roll back reopening efforts, Gov. Tate Reeves took a serious tone but no new action Wednesday.
“I want to be very, very clear. Our health care system is at risk,” Reeves said at his first coronavirus press conference in 10 days. “This is a risk that is before us — if not now, it could be very, very soon.”
Mississippi recorded its third consecutive day of at least 650 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday and the seven-day average stands at 639.43 — nearly double the 327.71 from a month ago.
Reeves acknowledged that the rising case numbers are the result of Mississippians not following guidelines set by the state and the Centers for Disease Control.
While mayors of New Orleans and Jackson are warning of stricter rules and mask mandates, Reeves again said new restrictions are not the answer.
“Our challenge is that our people aren’t following even the simplest of rules,” Reeves said. “Additional rules are useless is if people won’t follow what we have in place now. (More rules) aren’t out of the question, but right now we need more cooperation, not more mandates.”
Misinformation continues to be a problem on social media with people attempting to downplay the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Wednesday, Reeves shot back against the idea that the novel coronavirus has been overblown by media, health officials and people in elected office.
“My fellow Mississippians, this is not a hoax,” he said. “It is a danger, an imminent threat to all of us.
“I also realize there is no silver bullet. A shutdown did not save us. Testing hasn’t, and won’t save us. More ventilators won’t save us. A shelter-in-place order doesn’t save us. Mask mandates don’t save us.
“Every single one of those measures is a piece of the offense. The only chance we have is for all of us to try. The only chance we have to slow the spread is for all of us to make the extra effort.”
Reeves said numbers are now increasing in the state’s most populated counties — Hinds, Desoto, Rankin and Harrison — which is a trend happening nationwide.
The age group most affected by the recent spike in cases is those 20-29, a cross section that typically doesn’t suffer the most severe symptoms of the virus.
However, State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs cautioned that just because younger people make up a larger share of the new cases, that doesn’t mean older Mississippians aren’t feeling the impact.
“Even though that age group has seen the most dramatic increase, every age group is seeing an increase,” Dobbs said. “It’s across the board, but it’s more extreme with young folks.”
Dobbs has repeatedly asked that younger people take the virus seriously because they are endangering others by spreading it.
“A young person who is not worried about dying is keeping someone from visiting their grandma in the nursing home,” he said. “Everything has consequences.”
Virus spread also is coming not just from large gatherings, but everyday interactions. “It’s people out and about in their hometowns, picking it up from things that normally would be perfectly safe,” he said, but are no longer safe during the pandemic.
Dobbs said for a while Mississippi was on the right track to flattening the curve, but that’s changed.
“We had an opportunity at the end of the May. Our case load was going down. We lost our way and we’re paying for it now. I’m really disturbed, but I’m not surprised. You just hope another shoe does not drop.
With new cases and hospitalizations on the rise, Reeves worries that steady numbers of patients who need intensive care and ventilators will see a spike in the next couple of weeks.
“On June 10, we had 156 COVID-19 patients in ICU beds. Today, we have 160 ICU patients,” Reeves said. “That’s an increase of only four. However, on June 10 we had 442 total patients in hospital beds. Today, we have 579.
“Having a higher number of patients in hospital beds is a leading indicator that a number of patients in ICU beds will be eventually be higher than we are today.”
Reeves has been hesitant to make statewide orders about people wearing masks. On Tuesday, at a ceremony to sign a bill removing the state flag, the governor was surrounded by his family and other officials, none of whom wore masks.
But he left the door open on Wednesday while pointing to counties where stricter guidelines have brought results.
“We had significant buy-in by local officials, business leaders and folks in the community,” he said. “I’m not taking a statewide order off the table at this time. We’ll look at the number of cases on a county-by-county basis, but the only way it works is if you get buy-in from local people, elected leaders, business leaders and our constituents.”
There have been 27,900 reported COVID-19 cases in Mississippi with 1,082 deaths.
This story was originally published July 1, 2020 at 4:36 PM.
