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We’ve always tried to be straight-up and transparent about what’s going on with Coronavirus in our state. No false panic. No false positivity. I’m encouraged today that in the middle of a nationwide surge of cases, Mississippi has been slower than most other states to increase.
Last week, we saw a 17% decrease in 7-day numbers. That’s good. This weekend we saw numbers go up slightly more than the previous weekend. That’s bad. None of this fits neatly into political narratives. It’s my job to give you the facts, and help you assess the risk.
One additional bit of good news. We’ve talked before about the reproduction rate or “r-naught.” That’s a key measure of how fast the virus is growing. I’ve warned of severe danger when the number was high.
Today, Mississippi has the lowest in the nation, and we are the only state that is currently under the key number of 1.0. That’s remarkable. Of course, nothing is inevitable. That can change, and it has changed before. But it is a great collective achievement by the people of Mississippi.
Our contact tracing has identified a few more counties that qualify for the additional mask measures we announced last week. I signed an executive order today that adds: Harrison, Madison, Marshall, Jones, Carroll, Leake, and Benton.
We know that this is not over. We know that we are still in the middle of this fight. People are tired. I’m tired of it. We need to find a way to deal with this that never returns to the economic lockdowns of the past. We need a sustainable plan.
We believe that localized efforts to bring intense focus to those hardest-hit areas is going to have the greatest impact.
MageeNews.com is an online news source covering Simpson and surrounding counties as well as the State of Mississippi.
