Meridian COVID-19 testing returns to hospitals after mobile day at Bonita Lakes
Published 9:58 am Wednesday, April 1, 2020
- Paula Merritt / The Meridian StarOra Smith, with Lauderdale County Emergency Management Agency scans the grounds for nails and other objects with a magnet on Tuesday at the former Sears automotive store at Bonita Lakes mall. COVID-19 testing is being held at the site on Wednesday, April 1.
With no shoppers in sight, a parking lot at the back of Bonita Lakes Mall was transformed into a mobile testing site for COVID-19 Wednesday, as residents were swabbed in their cars.
Healthcare workers, outfitted in masks and gowns, and members of the Mississippi National Guard and Mississippi Highway Patrol were set up near the Sears Auto Center for one day of testing.
The testing, which was open only to Mississippi residents who had been pre-screened for symptoms, was facilitated by the University of Mississippi Medical Center and the Mississippi State Department of Health.
Information on the number of tests completed at the site was not available Wednesday afternoon.
Rush Health Systems and Anderson Regional Medical Center will continue to operate testing sites at their respective locations to effectively utilize staff and preserve limited resources such as personal protective equipment.
The sites are being operated in conjunction with hotlines staffed by healthcare professionals who are screening callers for symptoms. Individuals who meet the criteria are given an appointment for testing.
Neither health system is offering walk-in testing for non-emergent patients who have not reserved an appointment slot.
If you have symptoms or concerns, please call the Rush COVID-19 Hotline at 601-703-9913 or the Anderson COVID-19 Hotline at 601-553-7888.
Wednesday afternoon, Gov. Tate Reeves announced a statewide shelter-in-place order, effective Friday, April 3.
The order is in place until April 20.
“This will not be easy for anyone, but we believe it is the right course of action,” Reeves said. “We know that there are some who still do not have a healthy fear of this virus. They are wrong and they are risking lives if they do not take this very, very seriously.”
The Mississippi State Department of Health confirmed 136 new cases of COVID-19 Wednesday, bringing the state’s total to 1,073.
Lauderdale County, which has been under a shelter-in-place order from Gov. Tate Reeves since Tuesday night, had 39 confirmed cases in the latest count.
It’s been one week since Anderson Regional Medical Center reported the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Lauderdale County.
State Epidemiologist Dr. Paul Byers said Tuesday that the county has had a rapid increase in cases in recent days.
State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs has warned the area was likely to see “marked increases” in cases in the next week or two.
MSDH reported two additional deaths Wednesday in Holmes and Humphreys Counties.
Twenty-two people have died in Mississippi since the outbreak began.
Mississippi COVID-19 Cases to Date
| County | Cases | Deaths |
| Adams | 11 | |
| Alcorn | 3 | |
| Amite | 4 | 1 |
| Attala | 11 | |
| Benton | 4 | |
| Bolivar | 25 | 1 |
| Calhoun | 3 | |
| Carroll | 2 | |
| Chickasaw | 15 | |
| Choctaw | 7 | |
| Claiborne | 1 | |
| Clarke | 5 | |
| Clay | 5 | |
| Coahoma | 22 | |
| Copiah | 9 | |
| Covington | 3 | |
| Desoto | 94 | 1 |
| Forrest | 27 | |
| Franklin | 3 | |
| George | 4 | |
| Grenada | 3 | |
| Hancock | 20 | 1 |
| Harrison | 49 | 1 |
| Hinds | 109 | |
| Holmes | 16 | 2 |
| Humphreys | 4 | 1 |
| Itawamba | 4 | |
| Jackson | 52 | |
| Jasper | 1 | |
| Jefferson | 1 | |
| Jones | 6 | |
| Kemper | 1 | |
| Lafayette | 15 | 1 |
| Lamar | 6 | |
| Lauderdale | 39 | |
| Lawrence | 5 | |
| Leake | 5 | |
| Lee | 25 | 1 |
| Leflore | 20 | 1 |
| Lincoln | 13 | |
| Lowndes | 11 | |
| Madison | 53 | |
| Marion | 6 | |
| Marshall | 15 | |
| Monroe | 7 | |
| Montgomery | 8 | 1 |
| Neshoba | 5 | |
| Newton | 2 | |
| Noxubee | 3 | |
| Oktibbeha | 18 | |
| Panola | 8 | 1 |
| Pearl River | 32 | |
| Perry | 5 | 1 |
| Pike | 20 | |
| Pontotoc | 6 | |
| Prentiss | 4 | |
| Quitman | 4 | |
| Rankin | 48 | 1 |
| Scott | 12 | |
| Sharkey | 2 | |
| Simpson | 3 | |
| Smith | 1 | |
| Sunflower | 12 | 1 |
| Tallahatchie | 2 | |
| Tate | 11 | |
| Tippah | 28 | 2 |
| Tishomingo | 1 | |
| Tunica | 13 | 1 |
| Union | 3 | |
| Walthall | 7 | |
| Warren | 2 | |
| Washington | 22 | |
| Webster | 7 | 1 |
| Wilkinson | 16 | 2 |
| Winston | 9 | |
| Yalobusha | 6 | |
| Yazoo | 9 | |
| Total | 1,073 | 22 |
–Mississippi Department of Health
