A large group of people at an auction in a northeast Mississippi city was broken up Saturday under a directive from the city’s mayor.
Tupelo Mayor Jason Shelton told the police and fire departments to break up the gathering at the Tupelo Furniture Market in light of the continuing spread of COVID-19.
Mississippi now has at least 140 confirmed cases of COVID-19, up from 80 reported a day earlier, health officials said Saturday.
Of those cases, 24% are being treated in hospitals, the Mississippi Department of Health reported. In addition, the agency said its laboratory had tested more than 770 people. Positive cases have been reported in 45 of the state’s 84 counties.
Only one death has been reported for the state.
“There were people from all over Northeast Mississippi,” said Shelton, who also issued an executive order banning public events and gatherings with more than 50 people from occurring in the city.
City officials said they thought the auction was going to be postponed. Shelton told the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal that his directives were given to help slow the spread of the virus in Tupelo.
A telephone call to the furniture market for comment was not immediately returned.
Shelton’s orders come after the city council expressed a need for the governor or state agencies to provide more guidance during the pandemic.
“We’re looking for some leadership from the governor and his team because right now we’ve got all these municipalities making different decisions and some of them mesh and some of them don’t, but we need a unified stance here,” Ward 6 Councilman Lynn Bryan said.
The vast majority of people infected with the novel coronavirus get only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, and recover in about two weeks. But many will need hospitalization. Particularly vulnerable are older adults and those with existing health problems who can develop severe complications, including pneumonia.
COVID-19 testing will begin next week at the Mississippi Fairgrounds in Jackson. The drive-thru testing site will open by appointment starting Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for those showing symptoms such as fever or respiratory problems, said state health officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs.