Reeves delays school start for some MS students, mandates masks statewide
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves issued an executive order Tuesday that will delay the start of class for 7th-12th graders at schools located in coronavirus hot spots and require masks in schools for students and teachers.
Also on Tuesday, Reeves announced an order that will require masks at public gatherings statewide for two weeks to help the process of reopening schools.
The counties that will have classes postponed for grades 7-12 until at least Aug. 17 are: Bolivar, Coahoma, Forrest, George, Hinds, Panola, Sunflower and Washington.
“I firmly believe this decision today gives local schools options to do what’s best for kids,” Reeves said. “Hopefully those schools that cannot open safely will delay until at least Aug. 17.”
Many school districts are set to resume classes this week, while others including Bay-Waveland, delayed until after Labor Day.
Dr. Thomas Dobbs, the state’s top health officer, said recently that he thinks the start of school should be postponed until after August. He worries that new cases will skyrocket when students return to class.
On Tuesday, he asked Mississippians to lay low to allow the reopening of schools to go as smoothly as possible.
“We need to chill out for two to three weeks,” Dobbs said. “Don’t go to a shower. Send your regrets to the wedding. A lot of our cases are linked to social events. If you’re a teenager, I’m asking you to chill out for a couple of weeks. If kids do a soft quarantine, it makes it less likely that they’ll start school with coronavirus.”
Like he has with his mask mandate that had previously covered only 37 counties, Reeves has decided that not every school or district should be treated the same. The governor said that evidence shows that younger children are less likely to spread the virus, allowing them to return to the classroom more easily.
Starting Wednesday morning, Mississippians must wear a mask when they’re inside a business, school, any place open to the public or when at an outdoor public space where social distancing isn’t possible. The order is set to expire at 8 a.m. on Aug. 17.
Reeves’ decision to implement a statewide mask mandate marked a significant turnaround for the governor, who had resisted the idea for weeks.
“We have seen over the last several weeks that when people participate and wear masks, it helps,” he said. “We are seeing improvement in our numbers, all be it at a much slower pace than we’d like.”
Exceptions in the mask mandate are children under 6 years old, those who cannot cover their face for medical or behavioral conditions and those at religious worship.
Mississippi has had one of the nation’s worst COVID-19 outbreaks this summer. The state health department’s reported 1,072 new cases and 42 deaths on Tuesday. The number of patients in intensive care hit a new high mark at 314 on Tuesday.
This story was originally published August 4, 2020 at 2:46 PM.
