As April ends, governors across the country are talking more and more about reopening their states, but Governor Tate Reeves has not made a final decision on when that will be for Mississippi.
The governor says the state will not get back to normal overnight, nor does he want to put limits on those who have already been hurt from the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We cannot limit lay-offs or economic problems," Reeves said. "We can, however, do everything in our power to limit those instances where an order from the government prevents a Mississippian from providing for themselves.
Governor Reeves says Mississippi was expected to have 4000 hospital beds in use this week. But the state did better than expected with only 400 hospital beds in use.
State health officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs says Mississippi’s curve is currently flattening, and some figures do support taking careful efforts to get the state back to normal.
But with 178 new cases and 10 new deaths, Dr. Dobbs stresses the pandemic is far from over.
Please don’t let our guard down. We have flattened the curve, but you know, we still have a lot of cases out there. We are going to have more deaths," Dr. Dobbs said. "The better we do individually and collectively, the more likely it is we’re going to get through this in a lot better shape.
The governor says he will make a decision in the next two to three days about whether to extend the stay at home order.
