Reeves clears some businesses; masks required for workers in Meridian; curfew extended
Published 6:00 pm Friday, April 24, 2020
- AP Photo/Rogelio V. SolisGov. Tate Reeves speaks during a news conference in Jackson on Tuesday. Reeves on Friday announced he was easing some restrictions on businesses and signed a statewide "safer at home" order.
Gov. Tate Reeves announced he was easing some restrictions on businesses Friday and signed a statewide “safer at home” order, as Lauderdale County’s total of COVID-19 cases climbed to the second highest in the state.
The order, which goes into effect for two weeks, beginning Monday, encourages state residents to stay at home except for essential travel.
While social gatherings of 10 or more are prohibited, some previously closed businesses, such as retail stores, may open at 50 percent capacity.
Movie theaters, museums, casinos, salons, gyms, barber shops and tattoo parlors are among some of the businesses that remain closed.
Restaurants are limited to drive-thru or curb side pickup only.
Under an order by the city of Meridian going into effect at 8 a.m. Monday, all employees of essential and nonessential businesses that are open to maintain minimal operations must wear a mask when in the same space as employees or the public.
Meridian’s 9 p.m. to 6 a.m curfew has been extended to May 15.
The Mississippi State Department of Health reported 19 new cases of COVID-19 in Lauderdale County Friday, for a total of 268, the second highest in the state.
Sixty-five of the cases are in long-term care facilities, records show.
State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs said the state has been communicating with medical leaders and long-term facilities in the county.
“We plan to do 100 percent testing of everybody in a nursing home, including employees and residents if they have even a single case, and that’s going to be the Department of Health doing that, so we can immediately identify anybody who is actively contagious and we can take more aggressive measures,” he told The Meridian Star at a press conference Friday.
The state has also sent a rapid test machine to Meridian, Dobbs said.
According to health department data released Friday, 18 people from the county have died from the virus, more than in any other county.
“What’s happening in Lauderdale County is very frustrating for all of us,” said Reeves. “I want to reiterate that behind every number, there is a name and every single Mississippi death is a tragedy.”
Reeves said the data supports health officials’ analysis.
“The first county they came to me with was Lauderdale County and the concerns that they had there,” Reeves said. “Much of what they were concerned about happening over a 10 to 15-day period is what we’ve seen over the last five to seven days.”
The number of patients with COVID-19 hospitalized at Anderson Regional Medical Center has increased every day since Monday and was up to 19 patients Friday, according to the hospital’s website.
Rush Foundation Hospital is not providing daily COVID-19 hospitalization numbers. For the week of April 12, Rush Health Systems reported 67 new cases of COVID-19 out of 202 tests conducted.
MSDH confirmed 281 new cases of COVID-19 Friday, for a total of 5,434 and eight additional deaths, for a total of 209 statewide.
Table of total cases, deaths, and cases in long-term care (LTC) facilities since March 11, 2020. This table now lists the number of cases in long-term care facilities, and not the number of facilities with outbreaks.
| County | Total Cases | Total Deaths | Total Cases in LTC Facilities |
| Adams | 104 | 7 | 14 |
| Alcorn | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| Amite | 23 | 0 | 1 |
| Attala | 68 | 0 | 8 |
| Benton | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| Bolivar | 90 | 7 | 13 |
| Calhoun | 46 | 3 | 22 |
| Carroll | 15 | 1 | 0 |
| Chickasaw | 53 | 4 | 16 |
| Choctaw | 13 | 1 | 0 |
| Claiborne | 13 | 0 | 0 |
| Clarke | 43 | 3 | 9 |
| Clay | 29 | 2 | 0 |
| Coahoma | 54 | 2 | 1 |
| Copiah | 65 | 1 | 1 |
| Covington | 43 | 0 | 0 |
| Desoto | 256 | 4 | 2 |
| Forrest | 174 | 7 | 16 |
| Franklin | 16 | 0 | 0 |
| George | 11 | 1 | 0 |
| Greene | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| Grenada | 27 | 0 | 14 |
| Hancock | 56 | 5 | 7 |
| Harrison | 157 | 6 | 1 |
| Hinds | 401 | 6 | 10 |
| Holmes | 92 | 5 | 16 |
| Humphreys | 14 | 3 | 1 |
| Itawamba | 32 | 1 | 13 |
| Jackson | 235 | 6 | 35 |
| Jasper | 29 | 1 | 0 |
| Jefferson | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Jefferson Davis | 19 | 1 | 0 |
| Jones | 104 | 0 | 6 |
| Kemper | 31 | 0 | 1 |
| Lafayette | 83 | 3 | 16 |
| Lamar | 82 | 2 | 0 |
| Lauderdale | 268 | 18 | 65 |
| Lawrence | 26 | 0 | 1 |
| Leake | 136 | 1 | 0 |
| Lee | 70 | 4 | 4 |
| Leflore | 124 | 14 | 26 |
| Lincoln | 132 | 7 | 44 |
| Lowndes | 38 | 2 | 2 |
| Madison | 178 | 4 | 10 |
| Marion | 55 | 4 | 12 |
| Marshall | 40 | 2 | 0 |
| Monroe | 117 | 9 | 49 |
| Montgomery | 17 | 1 | 0 |
| Neshoba | 116 | 2 | 1 |
| Newton | 51 | 0 | 1 |
| Noxubee | 35 | 0 | 0 |
| Oktibbeha | 46 | 3 | 6 |
| Panola | 38 | 2 | 0 |
| Pearl River | 144 | 13 | 28 |
| Perry | 23 | 1 | 0 |
| Pike | 127 | 4 | 8 |
| Pontotoc | 18 | 2 | 1 |
| Prentiss | 29 | 0 | 17 |
| Quitman | 14 | 0 | 0 |
| Rankin | 154 | 4 | 4 |
| Scott | 200 | 0 | 7 |
| Sharkey | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Simpson | 36 | 0 | 2 |
| Smith | 55 | 3 | 17 |
| Stone | 22 | 0 | 0 |
| Sunflower | 51 | 2 | 0 |
| Tallahatchie | 11 | 1 | 0 |
| Tate | 38 | 0 | 1 |
| Tippah | 50 | 7 | 0 |
| Tishomingo | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Tunica | 34 | 1 | 12 |
| Union | 14 | 1 | 1 |
| Walthall | 27 | 0 | 1 |
| Warren | 39 | 2 | 0 |
| Washington | 74 | 3 | 4 |
| Wayne | 16 | 0 | 0 |
| Webster | 17 | 1 | 0 |
| Wilkinson | 66 | 7 | 5 |
| Winston | 38 | 0 | 0 |
| Yalobusha | 17 | 0 | 0 |
| Yazoo | 117 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 5,434 | 209 | 552 |
The numbers in this table are provisional. County case numbers and deaths may change as investigation finds new or additional information about residence.
–Mississippi Department of Health
