‘We are going to pay the price’ if MS kids go back to school this week, Dobbs says
With Mississippi near the top of the list nationwide for COVID-19 spread, State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs is leery of sending children back to classrooms this week.
Dobbs said during a video question-and-answer session sponsored by the Mississippi State Medical Association that he believes COVID-19 cases will level off, then soar once schools are in session. He said Mississippi’s health department will be recommending a statewide mask mandate for all children attending schools.
“Unfortunately, nothing can not be political these days and so I think sometimes we’re making rash decisions because we’ve planted our flag,” Dobbs said. “I was off. I thought maybe it would be the right time to start in August until about a little while ago.
“I do think it’s a good idea to put our toe in the water a little bit, kind of go slowly, offer as much online as we can, maybe delay in person for a little while, maybe until September.”
Dobbs said there was “nothing magic” about returning to school in August.
“Having a firm statement, I’m having to be very conscientious about how do you message that with so many other voices in the conversation,” he said. “But I think it’s a good idea to delay school.”
The push to start school
President Donald Trump has said that he wants schools reopened and recently threatened to cut federal funding to schools that do not reopen. Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves has also said it is important for the health of Mississippi’s children, especially younger ones, to be able to attend school, which he shut down for the spring as the pandemic worsened.
Reeves was reviewing back-to-school plans for districts statewide over the weekend. School districts had to submit their plans by Friday.
Reeves is expected to announce at an afternoon news briefing early this week where he stands on the plans and restarting school. He consults Dobbs, who also speaks at the regular briefings, before making final decisions.
Dobbs said he had reviewed summaries of the district plans.
“A lot of them just say traditional school,” Dobbs said. “Believe it or not, ‘We’re just going back to school,’ which to me is wholly unacceptable. It’s crazy.
“We are going to recommend universal mask uses in school. We recommend universal masks in school for all age groups, with some caveats that are in our school guidance. We’ll try to make sure people understand that.”
He said he expects COVID-19 cases in Mississippi to level off until after school starts, “then as all this college and school gets going ... we’re going to take off again,” he said, raising his arm in an upward arc as he spoke.
Dobbs doesn’t think any in-person class should have more than 50% of normal capacity. He said class size can be controlled through virtual learning , and scheduling and spacing out classes.
“It’s impossible to imagine that we are not going to pay the price for cramming kids into schools right now,” he said. “There’s just no plausible scenario where it’s just not going to be bad.”
COVID-19 running rampant in MS
Mississippi is one of the states with the highest COVID-19 caseloads, deaths and testing positivity rates, which indicates too little testing because only those with more severe symptoms are being tested.
▪ Mississippi currently ranks sixth among states in number of cases per capita at 2,035 per 100,000 population, according to The New York Times nationwide COVID-19 database of numbers reported by state health departments.
▪ Mississippi and Pennsylvannia are tied in 12th for number of deaths, with 57 per 100,000 population, the database shows.
▪ Mississippi ranks second in testing positivity at a 21.1% average over the last seven days, with health experts saying a testing positivity rate at 5% or below means enough of the population is being tested. Alabama ranked first at 21.5%, according to a database maintained by Johns Hopkins University & Medicine.
The MSDH epidemiologist, Paul Byers, sat against the wall in the conference room while Dobbs fielded questions at a conference table from some of the MSMA’s 5,000 member physicians.
Dobbs, Byers and two MSMA representatives wore masks for the video conference on Friday.
At one point, Byers said: “So, it ‘s bad out there, guys. This is a bad time. We would not have anticipated this at the beginning of July to be where we are right now. I know we’ve got mask policies in place, but this is like turning the Titanic.
“It’s going to take a little bit to see positive effects.”
This story was originally published August 3, 2020 at 11:59 AM.
