Reeves 

Gov. Tate Reeves announced that mask mandates for Mississippi counties will be lifted and businesses will be able to operate at full capacity starting on Wednesday at 5 p.m.

Most counties have been under a mandate, including Lauderdale, Neshoba, Newton, Kemper and Clarke Counties.

Even though Reeves is rolling back the mandates, the City of Meridian is still under a mask order.

Additionally, the Mississippi State Department of Health has issued public health guidance for residents at least 65 years old or who are at least 16 years old and have a serious chronic medical condition.

The guidance says that these individuals should avoid all social gatherings outside the household and any in-person mass gathering, including religious ceremonies and sporting events, until they are fully protected by an approved COVID-19 vaccine.

The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are fully effective two weeks after the second dose, and the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is fully effective 28 days after the one dose that a person receives.

Reeves is also allowing businesses to operative at full capacity starting Wednesday at 5 p.m. Restaurants, bars, gyms and retail businesses were previously required to operate at a capacity of no greater than 75%.

Reeves’ new order does require masks in K-12 schools, though. It also limits ticketed seating at indoor arenas to 50% capacity.

At these arenas, indoor club areas will be limited to 75% capacity, and suites will be limited to 75% capacity.

Reeves and State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs also spoke about the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine at a Tuesday press conference. The vaccine, which the Food and Drug Administration authorized for emergency use on Saturday, is given in one dose.

Dobbs said that Mississippi has been allocated 24,000 doses of the J&J vaccine this week. He said that on Tuesday, the state added new drive-thru vaccination appointments for the new vaccine.

When booking a drive-thru vaccination appointment, individuals can choose to receive the J&J vaccine, if they wish.

COVID-19 case and death numbers

Mississippi reported on Tuesday 301 new cases of the coronavirus and 44 additional COVID-19 related deaths, bringing the state’s totals to 295,295 cases and 6,724 deaths.

Lauderdale County reported three new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, bringing the county’s total to 6,836 cases. The county reported one additional death, which occurred between Jan. 4 and Feb. 24 and was identified from death certificate reports. 226 COVID-19 related deaths have been reported in the county since March 2020.

Mississippi has been vaccinating its residents. The Mississippi State Department of Health reported on Tuesday that 409,892 people had received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine in Mississippi. Of those people, 227,961 had received two doses of COVID-19 vaccine.

COVID-19 case and death numbers for local counties are listed below.

Clarke County: no new cases; 1,693 total cases since March 2020. No additional deaths; 71 total deaths since March 2020.

Newton County: three new cases; 2,299 total cases. No additional deaths; 52 total deaths since March 2020.

Kemper County: no new cases; 902 total cases. No additional deaths; 23 total deaths since March 2020.

Neshoba County: ten new cases; 3,817 total cases. One additional death, which occurred between Jan. 4 and Feb. 24 and was identified from death certificate reports; 169 total deaths since March 2020.

MSDH presumed that 278,162 people in Mississippi had recovered from COVID-19 as of March 1. The department also reported that there are 64 ongoing outbreaks of COVID-19 in long-term-care facilities.

COVID-19 data

County	Total Cases	Total Deaths	Total LTC Facility Cases	Total LTC Facility Deaths
Adams	2346	78	72	15
Alcorn	2918	62	130	20
Amite	1117	34	55	8
Attala	2065	69	175	36
Benton	935	24	45	10
Bolivar	4612	123	232	31
Calhoun	1579	28	36	4
Carroll	1184	25	51	10
Chickasaw	2011	52	60	15
Choctaw	696	17	1	0
Claiborne	984	29	45	9
Clarke	1693	71	123	31
Clay	1792	51	38	5
Coahoma	2786	68	129	11
Copiah	2781	58	81	11
Covington	2489	80	136	39
De Soto	19690	230	113	24
Forrest	7217	138	226	51
Franklin	761	19	40	4
George	2318	45	59	7
Greene	1277	33	52	6
Grenada	2475	78	155	32
Hancock	3479	75	69	14
Harrison	16722	280	483	65
Hinds	18812	389	805	130
Holmes	1823	70	104	20
Humphreys	928	27	34	8
Issaquena	167	6	0	0
Itawamba	2900	75	134	23
Jackson	12603	228	236	34
Jasper	2134	45	43	2
Jefferson	627	27	40	7
Jefferson Davis	1019	31	8	1
Jones	7978	147	219	41
Kemper	902	23	44	9
Lafayette	5736	113	187	55
Lamar	5884	80	53	13
Lauderdale	6836	226 *	442	99
Lawrence	1204	21	27	2
Leake	2526	71	88	15
Lee	9691	160	222	41
Leflore	3376	118	237	52
Lincoln	3544	103	185	39
Lowndes	6031	140	256	62
Madison	9466	203	365	69
Marion	2527	78	158	24
Marshall	4033	92	64	15
Monroe	3990	126	190	55
Montgomery	1226	39	54	9
Neshoba	3817	169	203	59
Newton	2299	52	87	15
Noxubee	1228	31	35	6
Oktibbeha	4414	93	222	36
Panola	4308	94	103	14
Pearl River	4174	130	187	36
Perry	1217	34	21	7
Pike	3007	96	132	35
Pontotoc	4097	71	86	12
Prentiss	2698	58	99	15
Quitman	772	14	0	0
Rankin	12725	265	392	61
Scott	2939	70	115	18
Sharkey	489	17	43	8
Simpson	2758	79	158	20
Smith	1528	32	65	8
Stone	1724	29	84	14
Sunflower	3189	86	121	20
Tallahatchie	1709	39	50	7
Tate	3029	74	80	19
Tippah	2789	65	119	13
Tishomingo	2123	65	102	27
Tunica	990	23	18	2
Union	3956	74	131	23
Walthall	1242	40	69	13
Warren	4130	115	170	37
Washington	5218	130	191	39
Wayne	2542	41	69	11
Webster	1106	31	61	12
Wilkinson	624	26	25	5
Winston	2217	77	130	39
Yalobusha	1448	36	82	22
Yazoo	2899	63	139	18
Total	295,295	6,724	10,390	1,954