New Coronavirus cases trend down in Mississippi, but hospitalizations remain high

Mississippi has maintained over 900 Coronavirus hospitalizations for several weeks, but new infections are declining. On Facebook live, Governor Tate Reeves is asking people to continue wearing masks and social distancing so hospitals can regain their capacity to care for all Mississippians. He says he is specifically concerned about six counties: Bolivar, Forest, Jones, Lee, Pinola and Union. He says “Those six counties, the transmission rates have slowed there but they are continuing to be positive. In many other counties, almost 70 counties around our state, we’re actually seeing declines in numbers. And that’s an exceptionally positive trend that we’ve got to build on.”

Reeves says if people continue following guidance throughout August, he believes the results will show how effective mask-wearing really can be. “I think we’ll all be exceptionally pleased with our numbers, which will give us even more confidence that we can continue to get our economy going, continue to get our kids back in school, and continue to move to what I hope is a more normal fall, similar to the 2019 fall, rather than the 2020 spring,” says Reeves.

Reeves has said he wants football to return in the fall as well as K through 12 extracurricular activities. He says he will be putting mandates in place soon that will limit crowd sizes at events.