The Mississippi Department of Health is reporting more than 1,000 new cases of the coronavirus - again. It's the fifth time in the last week. In an effort to slow community spread, Governor Reeves is now requiring people in twenty-three out of the state's 82 counties to wear masks and avoid gatherings of more than 10 people indoors and 20 people outdoors.
"A lot of us are tired of it. But it's still here," said Reeves. "And quite frankly the number of cases on a daily basis, the number of hospitalizations, the number of patients in ICU beds and ultimately the number of patients on ventilators are worse today than they've been at any time since March 11 when we received our first case."
Reeves says in late June, Mississippi had 490 confirmed COVID-19 cases in hospital beds statewide. As of yesterday, the number rose to nearly 950 hospitalizations. Amid pressure to impose a statewide mask requirement, Reeves says he will only mandate mask-wearing in counties that have seen the highest increases in new coronavirus cases.
State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs says he's concerned about the state's healthcare system becoming overwhelmed if this trend continues. Nearly 300 Mississippians are currently hospitalized with coronavirus in intensive care units.
"Forty percent of all our ICU cases have coronavirus," said Dobbs. "That's a phenomenal number and it continues to grow."
"Just Friday it was only thirty-one percent," he said. "So that we're growing so quickly really tells us that we're at the verge of really pushing our system overcapacity. In large measures, we're already there."
The mask mandates in the 23 counties will expire at 8 a.m. on August 3.
