‘Like a tsunami.’ These are the most memorable pandemic quotes from Dr. Thomas Dobbs.
Dr. Thomas Dobbs announced Tuesday he will retire as Mississippi’s health officer, after two years of seeing the state through the COVID-19 pandemic.
He became well known for his tweets and online briefings, using strong words to caution residents about the consequences of continuing to gather during holidays and not getting vaccinated.
Perhaps the most eye-opening quote came Aug. 2021, when Dobbs said during a COVID 19 briefing that the “delta variant is ‘sweeping over Mississippi like a tsunami’.”
Here are some of his most memorable comments over the last 2 years, starting at the first spike in coronavirus cases cases the summer of 2020:
June 2020: “It’s not slowing down so far,” he said. “In hot places like Brazil, they’re having massive outbreaks,” Dobbs said, dispelling the thought that COVID-19 cases would lessen in Mississippi’s hot summer weather.
June 2020: “We’ve had people spending overnight and days in the ER like it’s an ICU,” Dobbs said. “If we’re not careful, Mississippi is gonna look like New York.”
July 2020: “I wouldn’t be too comfortable,” Dobbs said as new COVID-19 cases dipped below 700 in Mississippi for the first time in two weeks during that time period.
Aug. 2020: “These are people who didn’t have to die,” Dobbs says of new coronavirus deaths in the state. “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.”
Dec. 2020: “What a bunch of bull crap,” he said angrily during a call when asked if the number of coronavirus cases in Mississippi are inflated based on a doctor’s suggestion.
Dec. 2020: “Beginning next Tues(day) elective surgeries that require hospitalization must be delayed — statewide,” he tweeted.
May 2021: “I do want to take the opportunity to kind of shake us out of complacency,” Dobbs said, when 27% of people in Mississippi were fully vaccinated, compared to 36% nationwide.
Aug. 2021: “It is distressing to see what’s going on,” he said during a briefing briefing on Aug. 11, and know that all the deaths in Mississippi are preventable if people would get vaccinated.
