Jackson Free Press

Today the Mississippi Department of Health reported that 1,942 people tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday, and 33 more people died from complications of the virus, with precisely 200 outbreaks in long-term care facilities.

MSDH has reported 9,000 cases and 113 deaths in the past five days, making for an average of 1,809 people each day testing positive for COVID-19, by far the highest rolling average Mississippi has seen since the pandemic hit the state early in the spring. An average of 22 people per day is dying from their infection. As of Thursday, 1,068 people were in the hospital with a confirmed case of COVID-19, with 276 of those people in intensive care units.

Health officials have sounded alarm bells for weeks, both before and after the Thanksgiving holiday, with State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs saying on Wednesday, "There's no doubt that we're headed into the darkest period of the coronavirus so far."

Today, Dr. Dobbs tweeted: "What would I do to save 1,000 lives? We may see an additional 1,000 deaths before the start of 2021. All preventable. I would do a lot. We collectively can save thousands of Mississippians throughout (the) rest of the pandemic. Yesterday 37 people died, many in their 30's-50's."

This week, Dr. Dobbs issued new guidance in his capacity as State Health Officer encouraging Mississippians to avoid all social activities.

"All residents of Mississippi should avoid any social gathering that includes individuals

outside of the nuclear family or household. MSDH recommends that Mississippians only

participate in work, school or other absolutely essential activities," the official Mississippi Health Alert read.

Dr. LouAnn Woodward, vice chancellor for health affairs and dean of the School of Medicine at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, tweeted earlier in the week, "New daily cases have now exceeded 2,000, which has literally been my nightmare." She's called previously for the governor to reinstitute the statewide mask mandate.

Thus far, Gov. Tate Reeves has refused to reinstitute the state mask mandate; 37 states currently have them. Instead, the governor has continued a piecemeal approach, adding 15 counties, including Rankin County, to his county-by-county mask and social distancing requirements on Tuesday.

Mayor Chowke Antar Lumumba this week closed Jackson's City Hall and non-essential city offices, for only the second time since the pandemic struck.