There’s now nearly one-thousand new cases of Coronavirus and almost 50 new deaths. That’s according to the Mississippi Department of Health. This brings the total to more than 30-thousand cases and the total number of deaths exceeds 11-hundred. More than half of new deaths occurred in long term care facilities. State epidemiologist Paul Byers announced yesterday that it’s not getting better -- just getting worse every day.
“We saw this in May and early part of June where we were holding steady with our cases but we are now skyrocketing,” said Byers. “We may be in for a rough summer and a rougher fall.”
The numbers are even rising among our state leaders. Lt. Governor Delbert Hosemann and State House Speaker Phillip Gunn recently announced they tested positive. They are adhering to state health guidelines by self-quarantining. State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs says 270 lawmakers and Capitol staff were tested on Monday after identifying cases in the legislature last week.
“We have eight confirmed cases among the legislators and an additional 11 suspects who we believe the vast majority will be validated as positive cases,” said Dobbs.
Dobbs attributed the outbreak at the Capitol to some lawmakers and staff not maintaining social distance and not wearing masks when they were in session in recent weeks.
Over the weekend, Governor Tate Reeves blamed the uptick in numbers to the mass gatherings of people protesting across the state. But health officials say there is no evidence to support that.
