Reeves returns mask mandate to 9 counties, including one on the Mississippi Coast
Jackson County is one of nine counties in the state that falls under new guidelines announced Monday by Gov. Tate Reeves to slow the spread of COVID-19 — including wearing face masks indoors.
The nine counties — Chickasaw, Claiborne, DeSoto, Forrest, Itawamba, Jackson, Lamar, Lee and Neshoba — have more than 500 cases per 100,000 residents over a designated two-week period or more than 200 cases total over the designated two-week period (with more than 200 cases per 100,000 residents).
Harrison County could be added and added soon, Reeves said, along with Hinds and Rankin counties. They all had more than 200 cases in the last two weeks, but had larger populations so did not meet that threshold of 200 cases per 100,000 residents. He said the state will monitor these large counties very closely.
“We’re hopeful the citizens of Harrison County will step up and help us reduce the number of cases and the overall spread, and if not we will have to add Harrison County to this order,” he said.
New regulations for these counties are:
- Face coverings are required while indoors and interacting with the public without social distancing.
- Indoor social gatherings should be limited to groups of 10.
- Outdoor social gatherings should be limited to groups of 50.
The order begins Wednesday and continues through Nov. 11.
This order will apply to those gatherings that do not otherwise have restrictive order. High school football games already have an order, he said. Reeves said he will have to look at whether the Peter Anderson Festival in Ocean Springs, which traditionally attracts about 80,000 people, falls under the definition of a social gathering.
Reeves said at a 2:30 p.m. press conference his new executive order requires hospitals statewide to main 10% of capacity for COVID-19 patients. If needed, hospitals must delay elective procedures, which is something that helped hospitals from becoming overwhelmed during the summer wave.
The numbers of coronavirus cases are up all across Europe and the United States, he said, and unfortunately Mississippi is not an exception.
Reeves said the trend is not a spike, but a “relatively slow, slight increase” over the last six weeks, which has really been exacerbated over the last 10 or 11 days
“We’ve seen this before. We know what can happen if we allow this to get out of control, and so we want to be proactive to prevent that from happening,” he said.
“As we wait for a vaccine, our mission is the same as it ever was: to prevent our healthcare system from being overwhelmed. That has to be the focus,” he said.
Reeves’ last press conference was Oct. 8 as Hurricane Delta neared.
“I tried to give everyone a much needed break from the Tate Reeves show,” he said.
Reeves said he personally crunched the numbers Monday on his home calculator.
Those who are under age 50 in Mississippi probably won’t die, he said, and have a 99.7% survival rate.
“And that’s just with those that have been tested and tested positive,” he said. “That is a number that is in line with the common flu.”
For those over age 50, he said, 93% of folks who catch the virus survive. That means 1 in 13 do not survive — “not really good odds that you want your mom or dad or granddad to take.”
“So we’re all trying to look at the data, recognize there are things we can do to be smart, but also recognizing there is no silver bullet,” he said. Arkansas and Alabama never dropped their mask order, he said, and “their curve looks much worse than ours.”
There are local mask mandates in Tupelo and Hattiesburg, he said. Yet Lee County and Forrest County where they are located are among the nine counties on the new list of restricted counties.
Reeves said he expects most people who go to vote will wear a mask, and he recommends they do so.
He and Dr. Thomas Dobbs, state health director, encouraged people to keep their Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations to immediate family only.
Coronavirus testing sites on the Coast
From 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., regular and rapid tests available at the following county health departments:
- Monday — George County
- Wednesday — Hancock, Pearl River counties
- Friday — Harrison, Jackson, Stone counties
This story was originally published October 19, 2020 at 2:53 PM.
