East Mississippi businesses, events impacted by COVID-19

Here are some local businesses, national chains and events that have been affected by COVID-19.

EDUCATION

Meridian Community College has extended its spring break. When students return most classes will be held online, with certain technical courses being offered on campus with precautions.

The University of West Alabama will move all on-campus classes online starting April 6. Classes on campus will continue to meet through March 20, and the school will close as scheduled for spring break March 23-27.

MSU Meridian also suspended classes for the week after spring break, March 16-22. The suspension applies to students only; faculty and staff will continue with normal operating procedures.

Mississippi State University Extension Service

The Mississippi State University Extension Service has postponed all of its in-person events, trainings and meetings across the state.  

All Extension offices and units will remain open, and basic operations will continue as normal until further notice. This includes the Bost Extension Center on the main campus in Starkville, the four regional Research and Extension Centers and each of Extension’s 82 county offices. Online educational programming will also proceed as scheduled. 

Resources are available at http://extension.msstate.edu/coronavirus.

WORSHIP SITES

Northcrest Baptist Church in Meridian will not have on-campus Sunday services, but will live stream services. The live streams will be conducted at the regular Sunday service times, 9 a.m. Bible study; 10:30 a.m. morning service and 6 p.m. evening service. Bible study and services will stream at northcrestbaptist.com, the Northcrest Baptist Facebook page, and on the Northcrest YouTube channel.

Poplar Springs Drive Baptist Church: Will have worship service at 10:15 a.m. only, no nursery provided and no Sunday school.

PUBLIC SAFETY

All driver’s license stations are closed to the public, except for the nine Mississippi Highway Patrol district troop stations across the state until March 31, the Mississippi Department of Public Safety said Saturday.

The troop stations will only provide the following services: sex offender registry transactions, commercial driver’s license card renewals (no testing) and commercial driver’s license medical card updates.

Visit www.dps.ms.gov for certain online transactions like regular driver’s license renewals.

Mississippi Department of Corrections suspended the transfers of inmates from all county jails to MDOC custody until further notice. The action is in addition to the temporary suspension of visitation at all facilities with MDOC inmates as the MDOC establishes sanitation and prevention protocols to prevent the spread of COVID-19, according to an MDOC news release.  

Kemper Regional Correctional Facility: all visitation is canceled until additional sanitation protocols are put in place, Kemper County Sheriff James Moore said.

HEALTH CARE FACILITIES

The Queen City Nursing Center is heavily restricting visitors. “Do not visit if you are sick or in contact with someone sick,” said Joann Hawkins, director of nurses at the Queen City Nursing Home. 

J.T. Champion Nursing Home is not accepting any visitors.

The Mississippi Veterans Home in Collins will will have restricted access to the public.

Anderson Regional Medical Center 

Individuals who are sick should avoid coming to the hospital to visit patients. People who have traveled in the past 21 days to regions where COVID-19 is present, will not be permitted to visit the hospital until 14 days after their return.

Anderson Children’s Medical Clinic announced on Facebook that effective Saturday March 14, all “well visits,” where a child does not receive vaccines, will be postponed.

All “well visits,” including med checks, will be in the morning only and sick visits will only be in the afternoon, the clinic said. Staff will call families Saturday or Sunday to reschedule existing appointments. The clinic is asking families to call first if they have a fever and cough.

Rush Health Systems 

Rush Health Systems enacted temporary visitor restrictions at its hospital campuses, effective March 11. Due to the national shortage of personal protective equipment, the organization is temporarily suspending visitor access into isolation rooms across the health system. 

All visitors will be screened for travel history, their contact with individuals with known coronavirus and for cold or flu-like symptoms.

All visitors should wash their hands thoroughly with soap and water or hand sanitizer before and after visiting the campuses.

Mississippi Power

Mississippi Power released a statement Saturday saying the company has plans and procedures in place to ensure a continuation of operations and service. The company said it is temporarily suspending customer disconnections for the next 30 days, beginning Sunday March 15. 

WESLEY HOUSE

Wesley House Community Center announced on its Facebook page Saturday that it is beginning a new program to help provide food to families with children, specifically those who may need help during the closure of public schools.

Under “Feed the Children,” adults can drive up in front of the Wesley House at 1520 8th Avenue in Meridian on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 1 to 4 p.m.

Adults can present identification and receive a food bag for children in their care.

The Wesley House said it will also distribute its regular drive-thru family food bags from 9 a.m to noon daily and from 1 – 4 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The clothes closet at the Wesley House will be closed for at least the next two weeks until March 30 and will reopen to the public when it is safe to do so.

Other forms of assistance will be handled on a case by case basis via fax and email. Please contact the Christian Relief Office at 601-485-4736 for this help.

Donations may be sent to the Wesley House, P.O. box 1207, Meridian, MS 39301.

EVENTS

The MSU Riley Center has adjusted its performance schedule for two shows: Bruce Hornsby and the dramatic performance Lula Del Ray. Tickets for the original events will be honored. New show dates will be posted at msurileycenter.com when announced. MSU is suspending all university-sponsored events and gatherings, including events sponsored by any registered student organization, through March 23. 

Sip & Savor scheduled March 28 at the Mississippi Arts + Entertainment experience has been postponed. The MAX remains open with extra cleaning precautions in place.

At the Temple Theater, multi-award-winning artist and songwriter Zach Williams’ headline tour “The Rescue Story Tour” has postponed its visit to Meridian until the fall.

The concert, which will feature as special guest contemporary Christian music band We The Kingdom as well as Christian band CAIN, was scheduled to be held Sunday, March 29.

The Meridian Symphony Orchestra has postponed Symphony Doo-Dah.

The Threefoot Festival in Meridian has been postponed to a later date, possibly in the fall. 

Earth’s Bounty has canceled its April 4 market, postponing the start of its season until May 2.

The Ralph Morgan Rodeo scheduled for April 3-4 has been cancelled. 

BUSINESSES AND ORGANIZATIONS

The Meridian Activity Center suspended all scheduled classes and activities until March 30. For more information, call 601-485-1812.

NAS Meridian is monitoring the situation but has not restricted travel.

Best Buy is encouraging buyers to shop online. “A strict travel policy for our employees is in place, and we have canceled meetings with large gatherings, again to do what we can to help prevent the spread of the illness,” Best Buy stated. 

Lowe’s: “We’ve spent the last several weeks preparing for how the virus may impact the communities we serve. We’ve established a task force that is working closely with the CDC, health authorities and all stores across the country to ensure we’re taking all necessary preventative measures.”

If you have a business, organization or event affected by COVID-19, please email editor@themeridianstar.com.