Mississippi public schools have confirmed 199 cases among students and 245 among teachers, Dobbs said, and school districts have ordered 2,035 students and 589 teachers to quarantine at home for two weeks after possible exposure to COVID-19. Schools in 71 of Mississippi’s 82 counties have reported cases, the state health officer said.
Mississippi’s public schools “would be miles ahead of where we are now” in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic “had schools not been dreadfully underfunded,” The Parents’ Campaign Executive Director Nancy Loome says, days after the Legislature overrode the governor’s funding veto.
Gulfport High School sent about 100 students home today to quarantine “out of an abundance of caution” after a teacher developed coronavirus-like symptoms, Sandy East, the school’s public relations director, told the Mississippi Free Press.
After months spent rebuffing critics who said he should issue a statewide mask mandate to slow the spread of COVID-19, Gov. Tate Reeves announced today that he will issue an order requiring Mississippians to wear face masks while in public across the state for two weeks.
UM Emails, Part I: On Sept. 21, 2018, Oxford and University of Mississippi community members flanked Meek School of Journalism and New Media Dean Will Norton as he denounced a Facebook post by Ed Meek, the school’s top donor and namesake. The Mississippi Free Press examined emails that show that, at the time, Norton knew more than he publicly admitted about the circumstances surrounding the inflammatory post.
Even as Gov. Tate Reeves pushes K-12 schools to resume traditional in-class instruction, Mississippi is experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases among school age children.
Mississippi smashed its one-day record in COVID-19 cases today, as the Mississippi State Department of Health reported 1,635 newly confirmed novel coronavirus infections. The State also reported 31 additional deaths, which ranks among the most ever reported in a single day.
Mississippi hospitals are “stretched thin,” and Mississippians “will not be able to get the health care (they) need” as the novel coronavirus outbreak accelerates across the state, top health experts warned during a dire press conference this morning. Already, State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs said, five of the state’s largest hospitals have already run out of ICU beds for critical patients.
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves signed “a law to turn a page in Mississippi today,” as he put his signature on legislation that will retire the state’s Confederate-themed flag. With legislative officials and African American leaders surrounding him, the Republican governor said that recent events have changed his mind about what the State of Mississippi should do about the long-controversial symbol.
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