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.
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…
Gov. Reeves claimed that hospital vaccine mandates could be to blame for the exodus of 2,000 nurses from Mississippi hospitals over the past 7 months.
Dr. Thomas Dobbs confirmed today that, not only is the current surge exceeding Mississippi's summer 2020 highs, it has now broken all past pandemic records for cases, hospitalizations and ICU patients—including the deadly winter 2020 surge. mississippifreepress.org/14669/with-mis…
Gov. Tate Reeves: “As you can see, in spite of the angry rhetoric coming from so many, our emergency management team is doing what it does—we are calmly dealing with an ever-changing environment to meet the needs of Mississippi." mississippifreepress.org/14669/with-mis…
“Failure of state leadership has led to this moment. We have vaccines for kids 12 and up and mitigation measures that would have worked," tweeted Dr. Anita Henderson (@babydocAnita), as she also praised MS Dept. of Health leaders like Dr. Dobbs. mississippifreepress.org/14669/with-mis…
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With MS State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs standing behind him wearing a mask, Gov. Tate Reeves criticized reporter for wearing a mask despite being vaccinated.
"If you really want to virtue signal, why are you in this room? Why don't you go to your house & lock yourself up?"
Before Gov. Reeves described vaccinated people wearing masks as "virtue signaling," the state health officer encouraged masks for ALL, vax or not.
Dr. Dobbs: “The phase we are in now is the phase of doing things safely...It’s critical to wear masks in public & use common sense.”
Mississippi State Health Officer Dr. Dobbs: "We do know kids in a structured setting with masks on is the right thing to do to keep kids in schools longer."
Gov. Tate Reeves, minutes later: "I have no intention of issuing a statewide mask mandate in schools.”
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.
“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…
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.
The federal government is dispatching physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists and pharmacists to Jackson. Mississippi has lost 2,000 nursers in 7 months.
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.
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."
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…
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."
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%.
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.
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.
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."