With an executive order effective at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves ended most of the mask mandates previously imposed to try and slow the spread of the highly contagious novel coronavirus, which has killed nearly 7,000 Mississippians since arriving in the state nearly a year ago.
Reeves – who said in a media briefing on Tuesday that “the governor’s office is getting out of the business of telling people what they can and cannot do” – is also lifting other restrictions, including limits on seating in restaurants.
The governor said his decision was based on decreased hospitalization numbers related to COVID-19. The state is also quickly vaccinating its citizens; the Health Department said Tuesday that nearly 410,000 Mississippians – out of a statewide population of about 3 million – had received a first dose of either the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
Both of those vaccines require two shots to be effective, and the department clarified that nearly 228,000 residents had received both doses.
MASK UP, H’BURG
In a video briefing posted on YouTube on Tuesday, Hattiesburg Mayor Toby Barker said the Hub City – which has been under a mask mandate since the end of May 2020 – would remain under the mandate “for the foreseeable future.” He said that, while there is good news to report in the fight against the virus, “we’re not out of this yet, and moving too quickly can undo progress in our community.”
Barker also pointed out that, on Tuesday alone, Forrest County reported two COVID-19 deaths.
The mayor said he consulted with leaders from the local medical community – including Forrest General Hospital, Merit Health Wesley and Hattiesburg Clinic – and they were “unanimous” in their support that masking was still necessary.
The renewed Hattiesburg mandate was made official with an executive order signed by Barker on Wednesday. Although the new city order broke with the governor’s statewide blanket order, city officials did follow Reeves in one area, agreeing to lessen some restrictions – on matters like capacity limits and operational hours – previously imposed on local business operations.
WHAT ABOUT PETAL?
Petal Mayor Hal Marx said – in a social media post on Tuesday – that “the City of Petal is open for business,” indicating that he had no plans to place the city under a mask mandate or to add any restrictions on local businesses.
“There are no local restrictions in our city regarding masks or business capacity,” Marx wrote.
COVID-19: ONE YEAR LATER
The first case of the virus in the state was detected in Forrest County on March 11, 2020. Since then, there have been nearly 300,000 confirmed cases in the state and, as of Tuesday, 6,725 deaths.
In Forrest County, which has a population of nearly 75,000, there have been 7,217 cases with 138 deaths; in Lamar County, there have been 5,884 cases with 80 deaths. The latter county has a population of about 63,500.
WHAT ELSE?
The governor’s new order remains in place until March 31. Here are some of its additional parts:
• Rules for K-12 schools are not changing. Schools will still require masking where social distancing is not possible. Capacity limits for seating at K-12 events remains in place; 25% is the capacity for indoor events, and 50% is the capacity for outdoor events.
• College capacity limits for indoor arenas – previously 25% – are now 50%. There are no state-imposed limits on seating for outdoor venues such as baseball stadiums.
• Reeves is encouraging people to wear masks in public, and the new order reiterates that businesses are encouraged to follow guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That guidance includes, among other items, enforcing social distancing between customers who are not from the same household, encouraging sick employees to stay home, implementing barrier guards between customers and employees when practical, providing employees and customers with hand sanitizer, and routinely cleaning and disinfecting workplaces.
• The order specifies that “close-contact” businesses – such as barbershops, beauty salons and massage or tattoo parlors – should encourage their employees and customers to wear masks.
WHAT DOES DOBBS SAY?
State Health Officer Thomas Dobbs, writing Tuesday on Twitter, urged Mississippians to get vaccinated when eligible, to continue simple prevention strategies such as wearing masks and skipping social gatherings and to practice caution during upcoming spring break holiday travel periods.
Later Tuesday, during the briefing with Reeves, Dobbs said people should still avoid “large, unmasked gatherings.”
“There’s no way in heck I would go sit in a crowded bar right now,” he added.
The Health Department – which Dobbs oversees – also issued updated COVID-19 guidance for older and vulnerable populations on Tuesday. Under those guidelines, the department asks all Mississippi residents ages 65 and older or ages 16 and older with serious chronic medical conditions to avoid all social gatherings outside of the household, including religious ceremonies and sporting events, until fully protected by an approved COVID-19 vaccine.
The department clarified that “full vaccine effectiveness occurs two weeks after the second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines and 28 days after the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.”
VACCINE UPDATE
The Health Department is operating a number of drive-thru vaccination sites throughout the state, and the closest site for Forrest and Lamar counties is the Lake Terrace Convention Center in Hattiesburg, which is located off U.S. 49 at 1 Convention Center Plaza. Below is more information about that service:
• As of Wednesday, vaccination appointments were available through March 26 at the convention center. Appointments for drive-thru service may be scheduled at covidvaccine.umc.edu or by phone at 877-978-6453.
• COVID-19 immunizations are currently being offered to all health care workers, individuals ages 65 and older, individuals ages 18-64 with an underlying medical condition, K-12 employees and all first responders.
• Qualifying health conditions include, among others, cancer, heart conditions, a weakened immune system, obesity, pregnancy and diabetes.
• To be effective, vaccination requires two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines. The second Pfizer-BioNTech dose should be given within three to six weeks after the first dose, and the second Moderna dose should be given within four to six weeks after the first dose.
• Selected drive-thru sites will have the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine available this week or in the near future. An initial allocation of 24,000 doses was received in Mississippi after the vaccine received emergency use authorization from the Food & Drug Administration on Feb. 27. The vaccine is manufactured by Janssen Biotech, a pharmaceutical company operating under the Johnson & Johnson umbrella.
Vaccines are also available at a number of additional providers throughout the state. According to information released on Feb. 28 by the Health Department, additional providers in Forrest and Lamar counties include:
• HealthWorks Immunization Clinic on South 28th Avenue is a joint service of Forrest General Hospital and Hattiesburg Clinic. The clinic has been vaccinating local health care professionals since Jan. 4 and started offering a limited number of shots to the general public on Jan. 11. New vaccination appointments are not being accepted at this time, but second-dose shots are being provided to patients who received first doses at the clinic. For information on future availability at this site, visit hattiesburgclinic.com.
• Walmart is offering vaccinations by appointment at its locations in Hattiesburg (5901 U.S. 49 and 6072 U.S. 98) and Petal (36 Byrd Boulevard). To schedule, visit bit.ly/wmtcovid.
• In Sumrall, vaccination appointments are available at Express Care of Sumrall, a service of Covington County Hospital (769-307-6995) and Express Care of Sumrall (769-307-7050).
