Gov. Tate Reeves says he plans to extend mask mandate that covers most of Mississippi
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said Tuesday that he plans to extend his COVID-19 executive order that mandates the wearing of masks in most of the state.
Reeves’ most recent order is set to expire on Friday, Jan. 15.
All but four of the 82 counties are currently under the mask mandate — Claiborne, Issaquena, Sharkey and Tunica.
“I anticipate that we will extend the order substantially in the form that it exists,” Reeves said. “We’ll do as we have been doing and adjust the counties based on the data.”
Reeves pointed to a decline this week in new numbers of the coronavirus as potential evidence that the post-Christmas surge is beginning to wane.
After five consecutive days of the state reporting over 2,000 new cases of COVID-19, the state health department reported 1,227 cases on Monday and 1,648 on Tuesday.
“The last two days we’ve seen a decline in the number of cases reported,” he said. “That’s good news, but I also want to make clear that two days does not mean it’s a trend.
“We still don’t expect to see a decline in hospitalizations in the short run given that hospitalizations are a lagging indicator.”
Reeves said again Tuesday that he does not plan to put in more strict COVID-19 guidelines outside of his current mask and social distancing guidelines.
“My main priority is not to try to fight the pandemic with stricter guidelines or stricter orders,” he said. “Our main focus is getting better and better at distributing the vaccine.
“On an individual level, we’ve got to make good decisions and work to slow the spread of the virus. That’s where are our focus is.”
This story was originally published January 12, 2021 at 3:10 PM.
