Reeves extends mask mandate in MS, ups football crowd limits to 25% capacity
Gov. Tate Reeves said at Saturday’s opening of the Mississippi Aquarium in Gulfport that he would take the weekend to consider whether to extend his executive order requiring masks in public.
At his press conference Monday, Reeves announced he was extending the mask mandate for two more weeks, along with continuing limits on bars and restaurants selling alcohol after 11 p.m.
Reeves said the only change from his previous order is an increase in the number of spectators at sporting events and other extracurricular school gatherings from two per student to 25% capacity “when social distancing can occur,” he said.
He heard a lot of complaints after restricting the spectators to just two, Reeves said, but also approval from school administrators. The two-person limit is easier for the schools to implement, he said, and he said many of the schools may stick with that.
He said the numbers improved from 9,200 cases over seven days several weeks ago to 5,000 cases now.
“So we’ve cut our weekly numbers in half. Now we have to cut them in half again,” he said.
“The next 10 days are critical,” Reeves said, because of the coming holiday weekend. He said the numbers are back to about where we were just before July 4.
As of Aug. 30, Mississippi has the third lowest rate in the nation of the average number of people who become infected by a person with COVID-19. At a rate of 0.9, only Arizona and Rhode Island are better, he said.
Positive test numbers also have dropped below 10% of those tested, he said.
“We can avoid a Labor Day bump if we stay focused,” State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs tweeted Monday morning.
Holiday weekend bump
Ten days after the July 4 holiday weekend, Mississippi started seeing a big increase in positive test results, and the increase lasted until mid-August.
The Labor Day weekend barbecues and extra tourists in the state, along with people at the beaches, casinos, restaurants, stores and attractions, could bring the same scenario.
Plus high school football regular season begins Sept. 4.
“One of my greatest concerns heading into this school season has been sports and those other events which cause the community to come out in crowds,” Reeves said when he announced Aug. 14 he was limiting football games and other extracurricular activities to two spectators per student.
“Twenty-two players on a field is not going to overwhelm a local hospital. Two thousand people in a small school’s bleachers might,” he said.
He said if people don’t follow the mask and social distancing guidelines when college football starts — and games become “super-spreader” events — he may have to take action.
“Let’s work together and let’s watch college football,” he said.
Did mask order work?
The numbers released by Mississippi Health Department on Monday show the mandates seem to have made a difference.
Mississippi had 274 new cases reported Monday, the lowest of the month, compared to 1,074 new cases on Aug. 4, when he announced the order making masks mandatory.
South Mississippi had 82 new cases on Monday compared to 173 new cases on Aug. 4.
Reeves said Aug. 14 that it was “more likely than not” that he would extend his order limiting spectators at sporting events past its Aug. 31 expiration date. He left open the possibility of allowing more people into K-12 events if COVID-19 numbers continued to drop across the state.
Mask orders
Reeves was asked about being photographed in Washington, D.C., last week without a mask.
He replied that the “vast majority of the time” he was in Washington and North Carolina for the Republican National Convention he had on a mask.
This is the timeline of Reeves’ mask orders in Mississippi:
▪ July 9 — Reeves announced mask mandates in Harrison and Jackson counties and 11 other counties with 200 new cases in the last 14 days
▪ July 17 — Reeves said he was extending the mask order as space in ICU units at some Mississippi hospitals was running short.
▪ July 24 — Reeves added restrictions as cases continued to rise, requiring bars to sell alcohol only to seated customers, and no alcohol can be sold at restaurants or bars from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m.
▪ Aug. 4 — Reeves announced an order requiring masks at public gatherings statewide for two weeks to help the process of reopening schools.
▪ Aug. 14 —The governor orders an extension of the statewide mask mandate until Aug. 31 and limits attendance at K-12 school sports and extracurricular events to two attendees per participating student.
This story was originally published August 31, 2020 at 2:50 PM.
