As part of Mayor Toby Barker's ongoing efforts to keep Hattiesburg area residents informed, safe and responsible during the current COVID-19 pandemic, the mayor released an update Monday on social media channels regarding the number of cases in the area, essential tasks and personal responsibility.
As of Monday afternoon, the number of total tests in the Hattiesburg area health system - meaning Forrest General Hospital, Hattiesburg Clinic, Merit Health Wesley and Southeast Mississippi Rural Health Initiative, which together serve almost 20 counties - stood at 2,260. Of those, 180 were positive, 1,355 were negative and 725 were pending/awaiting results.
"Those pending tests are kind of what I want to hone in on, because these are folks who have been tested, who likely experienced some symptoms or were around someone who did," Barker said. "They are out in our community, and hopefully isolating themselves - we've encouraged them to do that. Usually, five to 10 percent of these folks will, in fact, test positive."
As of March 31, the number of pending tests was 648. From there, that number rose to 650 on April 1, 727 on April 2 and 796 on April 3, before falling to 723 on April 4. April 5 saw 765 pending tests, with that number dropping to 725 on April 6.
"As the state has really ramped up its testing, that number of pending tests has risen as well," Barker said. "It kind of dropped off over the weekend, but this is an ongoing challenge for us, is trying to process the backlog of tests, not only from our community but for the entire state."
Those tests are sent to either the state lab in Jackson or private labs, including those in Memphis, Tennessee, or Birmingham, Alabama. In addition, Forrest General Hospital and Merit Health Wesley are working on establishing ways to conduct that testing in-house, which officials expect to result in faster turn-around times for results.
"We'll see that pending tests number - that 725 number - drop off sharply, hopefully over the next week or two," Barker said.
As of Monday afternoon, Forrest County reported 46 positive COVID-19 tests, while Lamar County reported 15. Of that total, Barker figures less than half are within Hattiesburg city limits.
"So with these two combined, that's 61 in our Greater Hattiesburg metro area," Barker said. "Sometimes you might look at that number of 61 and say that's really good for our area, and it really is - people have been responsible, our businesses have responded to some of the measures we've put into place with social distancing. But understand that Hattiesburg does not exist in a vacuum.
"Our health system serves 18, 19 counties, so the overall goal of all of this is trying to prevent our health care resources from being stretched to a point where we can't take care of everyone. So if it was just Forrest and Lamar counties, we'd be in good shape, but understand that our hospitals receive patients in Pearl River County and Perry County, Covington and Jones counties. We have to take that into account as we start to look toward the next few weeks, in terms of the surge."
Also as of Monday afternoon, Forrest General Hospital and Merit Health Wesley reported 23 hospitalized patients who were positive for COVID-19, along with 36 hospitalized patients who were under investigation for the virus. Fourteen ICU patients had been confirmed COVID-19 positive, and 10 ICU patients were under investigation.
"Under investigation" indicates that those people have not yet tested positive, or that officials are waiting on test results from people who may be experiencing symptoms of the disease.
Barker said officials have two main goals in dealing with the pandemic, with the first being protecting vulnerable populations including people over the age of 60 and those with underlying health conditions. For those people - and even those who are not vulnerable but could still pass the disease - Barker is urging adhering to the shelter-in-place order currently enforced throughout the state.
The second main goal is slowing the spread of COVID-19 to prevent the overload of the health care system.
"That health care system exists with personnel and resources ... and our ICU personnel require a certain type of skill set and a certain type of equipment that we have seen in other parts of the country that are severely lacking," Barker said. "If we overrun our health care system, we have more patients than we have actual people and equipment to take care of them."
Hospitals are currently working to speed up testing to obtain results within 24 hours, and city officials are planning ahead for the expected revenue loss that will result from the virus. Barker is particularly looking at the numbers generated by the additional 1 percent sales tax at Hattiesburg restaurants, motels and hotels, although current numbers won't be available until May.
Officials also are looking at possible places where expenses can be cut, as the city will likely be working with a reduced budget between now and the end of the current fiscal year in September.
Barker and other leaders also will remain vigilant in ensuring that the community is doing enough to slow the spread of the virus.
"With each passing day, we continue to listen to our medical community, to look at data on the ground, to listen to our law enforcement and fire department personnel, and dialogue with our businesses," Barker said. "There were good things that happened over the past weekend - again, our first 'shelter-in-place - and many of our stores went above and beyond to limit how many customers came into the store at one time.
"I want to specifically recognize Winn-Dixie, who not only did a great job of fulfilling the letter and the spirit of my executive order on crowd control, but they did it with compassion, and they did it with great customer service. And several of our other stores, if there were lines in the stores, they made an effort to space people apart, and we really do appreciate that."
Over the first weekend of the shelter-in-place order, the city saw 15-20 calls during which law enforcement asked crowds of more than 10 people to disperse to comply with the order.
"Those calls went reasonably well," Barker said. "I encourage the public, if you see a gathering where you think 10 or more folks are there - or if you think there's absolutely no way they're having 6 feet between each other - I want you to call dispatch at (601) 545-4910."
