The number of coronavirus cases and deaths in Mississippi is continuing to surge. The state’s leading health official says Mississippi is on track to lose 1,000 people to COVID-19 in the month of December alone. It’s four days until Christmas and the State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs is sounding the alarm about holiday gatherings.
This holiday bump and then spread after it, we have demonstrated over and over again that when it comes to holidays we are absolutely horrible with spreading coronavirus,” said Dobbs. “And there’s no bigger holiday season than Christmas and New Years in Mississippi.”
The rolling day average of new coronavirus cases exceeds 2,000. Dobbs says the number of daily COVID-19 hospitalizations peaked last week with 180 patients and ICU beds are full.
“We’ve been saying how healthcare is an exhaustible resource and we’re at the limit of exhausting it,” said Dobbs. “Just anticipate bad outcomes because we have overwhelmed our healthcare system. We have failed to protect our healthcare resources.”
Dobbs says the coronavirus is the third leading cause of death for people aged 45 through 84 and the second leading cause of death for those aged 85 years and older. He’s asking Mississippians to give the gift of life this Christmas by practicing CDC guidelines to limit the spread of coronavirus.
“Please remember that most people don’t know they have COVID when they spread it. And, so the thing to do is to minimize the number of people you have around the holiday table - preferably just people who you live with in your household,” said Dobbs. “Stay away from them as much as you can. Don’t share meals. If you have people visiting from out of town stay away from them.”
Dobbs is also reminding residents that any gathering of more than 10 people indoors is against the law in Mississippi, according to Governor Reeves’ most recent executive order.
