A group representing nearly five thousand physicians and medical students across Mississippi is calling for a statewide mask mandate. The Mississippi State Medical Association says the daily number of COVID-19 cases has been rising at alarming rates, and it's crippling major hospitals and their ability to provide emergency care. Dr. Clay Hays, President of the State Medical Association, says the virus does not stop at the county line. He says “When we just do one county or the other it causes or creates confusion. So if we just have a blanket mandate it’s much easier to follow. I mean nobody wants to mandate this, but we need to mandate this and people need to follow the rules. And I think they will once they’ve had a chance and they understand what we’re trying to do.”
Currently, people in 13 counties are required to wear masks and social distance in public. Governor Tate Reeves has resisted a statewide mandate. He says county-specific mandates are better at getting communities to participate. Reeves says “If we just issue a statewide mandate there are going to be people who say ‘well I’m in Tishomingo County and he just did that because things are really bad in Hinds County, and so I’m not gonna adhere to it.’ Our goal has to be, how do we get the best, highest numbers of individuals adhering to wearing a mask when they’re in public.”
The Governor says he has not ruled-out a statewide order. He says his office will monitor counties that are seeing higher rates of coronavirus transmission and add them to the order if needed.
