Gov. Tate Reeves 

Gov. Tate Reeves amended restrictions Friday that will allow outdoor entertainment venues such as race tracks and water parks, to open at no more than 50 percent capacity, starting Monday, May 25.

The parks must be deep cleaned before opening, follow social distancing and employees must wear masks.

School teams will also be able to open up their athletic training facilities Monday, using the same instructions that allowed gyms to open earlier.

The governor also extended executive Stay Safer in Place orders Friday until 8 a.m. Monday, June 1.

That includes the order that requires businesses in Lauderdale, Neshoba, Newton and Jasper counties, among other requirements, to screen employees at the start of their shifts, require appropriate protective gear when a distance of 6 feet cannot be kept and provide hand sanitizer.

Employees and customers of retail businesses in those counties are required to wear face masks.

The Mississippi State Department of Health reported 402 new cases of COVID-19 in Mississippi Friday, the second highest daily increase in cases.

State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs said many of the cases reported in the increase came from an accumulation of lab reports.

Statewide, health officials confirmed 12,624 total cases and 596 deaths, including 16 additional deaths reported Friday. Three of the deaths occurred between May 5 and May 12 and were identified from death certificate reports, MSDH said. Records show one of those deaths occurred in Lauderdale County.

State health officials reported 10 new cases of COVID-19 in Lauderdale County Friday, for a total of 647 and four additional deaths, for a total of 51 deaths.

Records show 32 of the 51 people from the county who died from COVID-19 lived in long-term care facilities.

As of Friday, Anderson Regional Medical Center reported it was hospitalizing 22 patients who have tested positive for COVID-19.

Rush Foundation Hospital is not reporting daily COVID-19 hospitalizations.

In Friday’s update, MSDH reported a total of 123 cases and 16 deaths in Clarke County, 116 cases and 10 deaths in Kemper County, 477 cases and 27 deaths in Neshoba County and 214 cases and three deaths in Newton County.

Amid growing concerns about the rise in COVID-19 cases, The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians on Thursday declared a state of public health emergency.

As of Thursday, there were 373 confirmed cases of COVID-19 for people eligible to receive healthcare services at the Choctaw Health Center and 21 deaths, according to the declaration.  

Among the positive cases as of midnight Wednesday, MBCI reported 168 cases in the Pearl River community, 31 in the Tucker community, 23 cases in the Bogue Chitto community and 55 cases in the Conehatta community. 

Cases and Deaths by County

Totals of all reported cases since March 11, including those in long-term care (LTC) facilities.

County	Total Cases	Total Deaths	Total LTC Facility Cases	Total LTC Facility Deaths
Adams	180	15	39	8
Alcorn	15	1	0	0
Amite	49	1	7	1
Attala	269	12	79	12
Benton	13	0	1	0
Bolivar	134	10	17	4
Calhoun	60	4	23	4
Carroll	113	9	45	7
Chickasaw	125	12	34	8
Choctaw	29	2	0	0
Claiborne	58	1	2	0
Clarke	123	16	17	7
Clay	95	3	0	0
Coahoma	92	3	0	0
Copiah	259	4	0	0
Covington	125	1	1	0
Desoto	442	6	15	2
Forrest	462	32	84	22
Franklin	23	2	2	1
George	19	1	0	0
Greene	7	1	0	0
Grenada	68	2	14	2
Hancock	86	10	7	3
Harrison	230	6	2	1
Hinds	855	24	77	13
Holmes	343	22	72	11
Humphreys	50	6	16	4
Itawamba	81	7	34	6
Jackson	291	13	39	4
Jasper	131	3	0	0
Jefferson	40	0	0	0
Jefferson Davis	69	2	3	1
Jones	422	12	51	5
Kemper	116	10	26	6
Lafayette	116	3	37	0
Lamar	215	4	4	2
Lauderdale	647	51	162	32
Lawrence	82	1	1	0
Leake	373	8	1	0
Lee	99	5	8	1
Leflore	211	25	53	12
Lincoln	231	19	81	15
Lowndes	139	7	17	4
Madison	618	20	89	12
Marion	103	8	14	2
Marshall	68	3	2	0
Monroe	231	24	92	21
Montgomery	77	1	0	0
Neshoba	477	27	64	15
Newton	214	3	3	0
Noxubee	152	4	14	3
Oktibbeha	126	9	29	6
Panola	59	2	0	0
Pearl River	203	27	44	9
Perry	40	2	0	0
Pike	190	11	14	6
Pontotoc	26	2	3	0
Prentiss	37	3	22	3
Quitman	23	0	0	0
Rankin	325	6	5	0
Scott	578	10	13	2
Sharkey	7	0	0	0
Simpson	82	0	4	0
Smith	127	10	29	7
Stone	27	0	0	0
Sunflower	73	3	0	0
Tallahatchie	23	1	0	0
Tate	59	1	2	0
Tippah	69	11	0	0
Tishomingo	22	0	1	0
Tunica	47	2	12	2
Union	68	4	20	3
Walthall	50	0	0	0
Warren	144	6	34	4
Washington	143	4	7	1
Wayne	72	0	2	0
Webster	27	1	0	0
Wilkinson	81	9	5	2
Winston	92	0	0	0
Yalobusha	79	4	24	4
Yazoo	198	2	8	0
Total	12,624	596	1,627	300

Long-Term Care Facility Cases and Deaths by Race

Long-term care (LTC) facilities like nursing homes are considered high risk locations because their residents are older or in poor health. Even one case of COVID-19 in these facilities among residents or employees is considered an outbreak. We investigate residents, staff and close contacts of infected individuals for possible exposure. (Long-term care facilities include nursing homes, intermediate care facilities for individuals with intellectual disabilities, personal care homes, assisted living facilities, long-term acute care facilities, and psychiatric or chemical dependency residential treatment centers.)

–Mississippi Department of Health