MS top doctor: Wait ‘til summer for social gatherings and avoid spring break, proms
Prom dances would be a bad idea this spring because of COVID-19, as are social gatherings and travel for spring break, Mississippi’s top health officers warned Friday.
Mississippians should instead hold off until summer to plan social gatherings, State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs and Epidemiologist Paul Byers said during a live discussion sponsored weekly by the the Mississippi State Medical Association.
A return to normal will be gradual, they said.
The advice from Dobbs and Byers mirrored what President Joe Biden told the nation in his first presidential address Thursday night. Biden said he hopes Americans can begin resuming normal lives this summer by planning Fourth of July celebrations.
He expects COVID-19 vaccinations from several manufacturers will be available to the general population by May 1.
Both Dobbs and Byers believe Mississippi will be ahead of that timeline. They said vaccines should available to the general public in April. Mississippi residents 50 and older, and those 16 to 49 years old with chronic health conditions, are now eligible for vaccines, with many appointments open from a variety of suppliers.
By March 12, 824,528 Mississippians had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports.
Spring break, prom present COVID dangers
With spring break approaching, Dobbs said cases could surge because travel and holidays have been accompanied by increases in the past. Also, the doctors pointed out, cases have been going up all week.
Spring break could be particularly perilous on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, where college students like to gather. Some events for the annual Black Spring Break, canceled in 2020, are scheduled on the Coast for April 9-11.
Although social distancing and masks are recommended, Gov. Tate Reeves recently rescinded Mississippi’s mask mandate.
Dobbs said he will be watching the numbers to see if spring break leads to a surge in cases in about two weeks.
When asked about holding proms, Dobbs said, “I still think it’s not a good idea.”
Byers said students would need to wear masks and social distance at prom, which he doesn’t see happening.
“If we have proms,” Byers said, “we’re going to see transmission.”
Pandemic needlessly costs lives
During the one-year anniversary week of the COVID pandemic, the doctors said, the numbers that stand out for them are the 500,000 deaths in the nation and almost 7,000 deaths in Mississippi.
The year-over-year increase in mortality in Mississippi has been 20%.
“Most of those people didn’t have to die,” Dobbs said. “Let me say this clearly: It’s not a choice between economy and letting people die.
“It’s about making the right decisions. You can be just as productive with a piece of cloth on your mouth as without a piece of cloth on your mouth.
‘It’s sad. A lot of people are not going to be here with us next year because we made bad decisions.”
