‘These are people who didn’t have to die,’ Dobbs says of new coronavirus deaths in MS
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves and the state’s health officer, Dr. Thomas Dobbs, acknowledged that an increase in Wednesday’s COVID-19 numbers and outbreaks at two colleges are concerning developments in the state’s battle against the coronavirus.
The state announced 1,348 new cases, the largest single-day total in August, and 36 deaths on Wednesday.
“I’ll always tell you when the numbers are good and bad,” Reeves said. “They have been good for a while, but today’s were bad. It’s one day, not a trend, but it’s important to notice and acknowledge.”
Dobbs called Wednesday’s data a “considerable increase” over recent numbers.
“We need to understand there will be variability, and we do see a little bit of a lag after the weekends. We reset in the middle of the week,” he said. “We’ll have follow the numbers for some days to determine a trend, but today’s numbers are unwelcome news nonetheless.”
While there had been a steady decline in new COVID-19 numbers this month, the death toll has continued to mount across the state. Of the 2,163 deaths in Mississippi this year, 507 have been reported in August.
“We need to realize that these are people who didn’t have to die. These are people who otherwise would be with us today,” Dobbs said. “Most of the people who are dying today in Mississippi are not in nursing homes. They’re people who live in the the community. They’re contracting COVID, getting sick and they’re dying. It’s something we need to work diligently to suppress in the communities.”
There have been 905 deaths from COVID-19 in Mississippi’s long-term care facilities this year.
Dobbs said he’ll be watching the figures closely moving forward to determine if Wednesday’s bump was the result of students returning to class across the state.
For the week of Aug. 10-14, there were 132 students and 84 staff members who tested positive for COVID-19 in Mississippi schools. There were 1,970 students and 328 staff members who were under quarantine.
COVID-19 outbreaks at Mississippi colleges
Dobbs said Wednesday that outbreaks have already been discovered at Ole Miss and the Mississippi University for Women.
“It’s multiple students within specific groups. It’s quite a few students,” Dobbs said. “We’re still waiting on a lot of lab results.”
The outbreak at MUW has been traced back to the Cotton District, a strip of bars and restaurants near the Mississippi State campus in Starkville.
Dobbs said that he is “extremely concerned” about the potential of outbreaks on college campuses.
“You see across the county a lot of situations where colleges had to close right after opening,” he said. “If you get in an area where people aren’t wearing masks, you’re going to see spread of the coronavirus. We’ll investigate (the current outbreaks) more.”
Dobbs and Reeves warned parents from visiting their children if they are on a college campus.
“If you have a kid that’s off to Mississippi State or Ole Miss or MUW and they’re staying on campus, honestly, it’s probably in your best interest not to visit with them,” Reeves said. “It can help minimize the spread if they stay on campus two, three or four weeks. I know it’s difficult for many to hear, but where we get in trouble is when people go into a spot where a few people with the virus spread it to a lot of people.”
