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11 Aug, 4 tweets, 2 min read
BREAKING: Short-staffed and overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients, the University of Mississippi Medical Center is requesting emergency federal aid as it erects a field hospital in its parking garage for the first time since April 2020.

Story by @NickJudin: mississippifreepress.org/14644/ummc-pre…
UMMC's request for emergency federal aid comes as Gov. @TateReeves continues to take a hands-off approach to the pandemic, calling mask mandates "foolish."

As the field hospital goes up, Reeves still plans to end MS's COVID-19 Emergency order on Friday.mississippifreepress.org/14644/ummc-pre…
Yesterday, Neshoba General Hospital CEO Lee McCall tweeted a plea to Gov. Reeves:

"@tatereeves hospitals and healthcare workers need you to help us. Where are you? ... Our incredible staff are holding it together but we are all at our breaking point."
mississippifreepress.org/14633/where-ar…
See Nick's thread here for more. He and I will be updating you on the situation as it develops.

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More from @ashtonpittman

Ashton Pittman Profile picture
12 Aug
BREAKING: After one week, Pearl River Central High School has quarantined 40% of its entire student body.

When classes began, the school board made masks optional for a more "normal" school year.

Now, the entire school district is going virtual.
mississippifreepress.org/14689/pearl-ri…
The Pearl River County School Board changed its mind and mandated masks at an emergency meeting Monday to try to save in-class instruction as cases soared in the first three days.

But 25% of the high school would be quarantined by the next day (Tuesday). mississippifreepress.org/14689/pearl-ri…
“There’s so much information out there on both sides right now. … There are no right answers. There are solutions to move forward," Pearl River County Superintendent Alan Lumpkin during Monday's emergency school board meeting on Zoom.
mississippifreepress.org/14689/pearl-ri…
Read 17 tweets
Ashton Pittman Profile picture
11 Aug
NEW: As Mississippi's hospital leaders begged for help among fears the medical system could collapse, Gov. Tate Reeves left for an out-of-state GOP political event yesterday.

He broke his silence on the spiraling crisis today. "Remain calm," he said.
mississippifreepress.org/14669/with-mis…
In a statement today, Gov. Reeves dismissed "angry rhetoric" from critics and urged Mississippians to "ignore all the irrational folks."

(Those "angry" and allegedly "irrational" folks include a lot of health care leaders and workers in the state). mississippifreepress.org/14669/with-mis…
As Mississippi hospitals contend with staff shortages statewide due to COVID-19 outbreaks among health workers and an exodus of 2,000 nurses over the past 7 months, Gov. Reeves suggested that hospitals may be to blame for staff shortages. mississippifreepress.org/14669/with-mis…
Read 9 tweets
Ashton Pittman Profile picture
11 Aug
NEWS: The federal government is rushing into Mississippi to help as COVID-19 threatens the state's entire medical system.

Without drastic change, "I think we’re going to see failure of the hospital system in Mississippi" in 5-10 days, says Dr. Alan Jones.
mississippifreepress.org/14659/mississi…
Not only do 0 adult ICU beds remain statewide, but the state's only pediatric hospital, the Children's of Mississippi, is now full, including with children in ICUs and on ventilators for life support.

Gov. Reeves still refuses to mandate masks in schools.mississippifreepress.org/14659/mississi…
The federal government is dispatching physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists and pharmacists to Jackson. Mississippi has lost 2,000 nursers in 7 months.

Once the parking garage field hospital is ready, it will be able to hold up to 50 patients. mississippifreepress.org/14659/mississi…
Read 9 tweets
Ashton Pittman Profile picture
11 Aug
NEW: On July 29, Gov. Tate Reeves told a maskless crowd at the Neshoba County Fair, which drew thousands statewide, that he considered the CDC's mask guidance "foolish."

Cases have since rocketed 605% there, overwhelming Neshoba General Hospital. mississippifreepress.org/14633/where-ar…
Neshoba General Hospital CEO to Gov. @TateReeves: "Where are you? We are overwhelmed with the surge of Covid and understaffed to safely care for our patients. Our incredible staff are holding it together but we are all at our breaking point." mississippifreepress.org/14633/where-ar…
When Gov. Reeves called mask mandates "foolish" at the Neshoba County Fair, he was in the county with the lowest vaccination rate in Mississippi—just 21%.

In the two weeks since the fair, cases are up 605% in Neshoba County vs. 116% statewide. mississippifreepress.org/14633/where-ar…
Read 6 tweets
Ashton Pittman Profile picture
4 Aug
As Gov. @TateReeves continues calling mask mandates in schools & elsewhere "foolish," the Pontotoc City School District is the latest to renege on a mask optional policy.

Decision comes after outbreaks forced 4 Lamar County schools to go all virtual in 9 days.

L: 7/23 R: 8/4
Lamar County School District began classes on July 22. By July 30, the school district had confirmed at least 217 cases among students/staff/faculty and 833 were quarantined.

Three schools had to go all virtual by Tuesday. @nickjudin says a 4th has now.
mississippifreepress.org/14305/third-la…
Forgot alt text descriptions. The first is is Pontotoc City School District's July 23 announcement that it will be "mask friendly for 2021-2022l but "masks will not be required since no mask mandates have been issued as of July 23, 2021."
Read 4 tweets
Ashton Pittman Profile picture
4 Aug
University of MS Medical Center officials say they are now at a point where 30 people are waiting on an ICU bed at any given time, with that number climbing as high as 60 at one point in recent days.
UMMC officials say that, even as ICUs are overflowing, they are struggling with a serious shortage in nurses/respiratory therapists caused both by burnt out people leaving and by sickness due to outbreaks among staff members.
Even before the current surge, which is seeing a record number of emergency room visits, UMMC and other Mississippi hospitals statewide were full with people getting needed care they'd been putting off since March 2020.
Read 5 tweets

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