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Ashton Pittman

14 Sep, 16 tweets, 7 min read

@MSFreePress

NEW: Mississippi is now No. 1 in the nation for COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 since the pandemic began.

After surpassing New York last month, Mississippi has also dethroned New Jersey (which had held the top spot since June 2020). Latest at @MSFreePress: mississippifreepress.org/15908/mississi…

“In Mississippi, we’re complacent about being last, aren’t we? ... Some folks, they're saying this is inevitable, people are going to die, it’s not worth trying,” Mississippi State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs said. “That is a loser mentality, right?” mississippifreepress.org/15908/mississi…

@MSFreePress

The @MSFreePress analysis shows Mississippi has had 306 COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 residents so far. For New Jersey, that figure is 292, while in New York it's 269.

The analysis is based on 2020 Census data (others, like @nytimes, use 2019 estimates).
mississippifreepress.org/15908/mississi…

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves in May 2020: “We learned a lot from this first wave. The one thing we learned is, unlike the state of New York & the state of New Jersey, Mississippi never had a huge peak."

MS was 15th in COVID deaths per 100k then. Now: 1st. mississippifreepress.org/15908/mississi…

“It doesn’t have to be this way. In Mississippi, we shouldn’t be complacent. We should use our tools to advance. And this isn’t just in COVID. This is in every health care arena," said Mississippi State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs. mississippifreepress.org/15908/mississi…

At the start of the delta-variant surge in July, Mississippi ranked 50th nationwide in COVID-19 vaccinations. The Magnolia State has since risen to 45th place with 41% fully vaccinated, now leading Alabama, Idaho, West Virginia and Wyoming.
mississippifreepress.org/15908/mississi…

“I would’ve hoped that we would’ve been the love thy neighbor state, but we really haven’t embraced that as a philosophy when it comes to the spread of COVID,” said Mississippi State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs.
mississippifreepress.org/15908/mississi…

“The power of lies is unbelievable, and the people who are lying when this is all over will pay no price for the lies they’ve spread, right?," said Mississippi State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs.
mississippifreepress.org/15908/mississi…

"When this is all over, and we’re doing the pick-up, every decision that you’ve made...as doctors, is going to be there, and the people who are out there lying have no consequences for the harm that they’re causing," MS State Health Officer Dr. Dobbs said.
mississippifreepress.org/15908/mississi…

“If you spread a lie, you’re contributing to that lie. I really feel strongly about that," said Mississippi State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs.
mississippifreepress.org/15908/mississi…

Even as Mississippi dethroned New Jersey as No. 1 in COVID-19 deaths, Gov. Reeves vowed to sue the Biden administration to stop the president's employer vaccine mandate.

"This is still America, and we still believe in freedom from tyrants," Reeves said.
mississippifreepress.org/15908/mississi…

Today, Mississippi officially surpassed 9,000 confirmed COVID-19 deaths.

More than 1,000 Mississippians died in the past 22 days alone.

The state's real COVID-19 death toll, however, is likely closer to 12,000, excess death data suggests.mississippifreepress.org/15908/mississi…

@MSFreePress

Help us produce more important, contextual reporting like this by following @MSFreePress and, if you can, with a one-time or recurring donation to our non-profit journalism. Also, be sure to give yours truly a follow @ashtonpittman. mfp.ms/donate

@nytimes

If you wonder why our COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 differ from the @nytimes figures, it's because NYT is calculating that figure based on 2019 Census estimates, while MFP is calculating it based on 2020 Census figures.

That's why NYT and others still show MS slightly behind NJ.

Here's the math.

[2019 Census estimates]

MS
2,976,149

NJ
8,882,190

[2020 Census]

MS
2,961,279 (-14.9k)

NJ
9,288,994 (+406.8k)

Deaths per 100k = (deaths/population size)*100,000

With 2019 estimates
NJ-305
MS-302

With 2020 data
NJ -292
MS - 306 mississippifreepress.org/15908/mississi…

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More from @ashtonpittman

Ashton Pittman

@ashtonpittman

16 Sep

@nickjudin

NEWS: COVID-19 is driving a surge in child hospitalizations for type 2 diabetes, which have DOUBLED since the pandemic began.

Medical researches have found that the virus "can target and impair the body’s insulin-producing cells."

From @nickjudin: mississippifreepress.org/15930/pediatri…

"Typically I'll diagnose a child with type 1 diabetes every other week. That’s been pretty standard for the 8 years I’ve been in Mississippi. But over the last 2 weeks, I’ve diagnosed 6 new children," said pediatric endocrinologist
Dr. Jessica Lilley.
mississippifreepress.org/15930/pediatri…

@nickjudin

Read Nick Judin's full report on this important and horrifying development on COVID-19 and its effects on children.

And make sure to follow him @nickjudin for continued COVID-19 coverage.mississippifreepress.org/15930/pediatri…

Read 7 tweets

Ashton Pittman

@ashtonpittman

13 Sep

NEW: A majority of the Mississippi State University Senate Faculty voted to call on the administration to implement a campus-wide COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

But the MSU administration says it has "no authority to mandate the vaccine." That's unclear.
mississippifreepress.org/15876/msu-sena…

MSU Provost David Shaw: "I received something from a faculty member talking about the ‘toxicity’ of the vaccine. I had a conversation with a parent who said, ‘I will withdraw my student if you can’t promise me that you will never require the vaccine.'"
mississippifreepress.org/15876/msu-sena…

MSU Provost Shaw on COVID vaccines: “That’s the pull and tug. ... What seems reasonable to one person seems completely unreasonable to another.”

Professor Sol Pelaez: “But we're a university, a research one, and we have to be on the side of science." mississippifreepress.org/15876/msu-sena…

Read 12 tweets

Ashton Pittman

@ashtonpittman

11 Sep

Dorothy appears to have realized that the reason we went upstairs is because it's bath time. Baby girl I'm sorry but you stink. 😭

Dorothy does not like baths in case you couldn't tell. #pibbles

And after all that drama, as soon as she heard me turn the water on to warm it up, she voluntarily came out of hiding and walked into the shower of her own accord... albeit as if marching to her doom (note that broken-hearted backwards glance).

Dorothy is the guilt trip queen.

Read 4 tweets

Ashton Pittman

@ashtonpittman

10 Sep

Comments on this grieving grandmother's posts in the past few hours include remarks like, "Even if there's a heaven, you won't be seeing your granddaughter when you croak because you'll be going to the other place for killing her." 11/

Over the next few days, you may see the screenshot of Teresa posting the syringe meme from July as well as these: One meme about not getting the vaccine in January and one joke meme about masks in May.

But that was the extent of Teresa's posts about vaccines and COVID. 12/

And while people are portraying her as a right-wing, anti-vax grandmother, Teresa's posts don't really align with that.

Two days after January 6, she shared a meme disavowing the left and the right. Otherwise, the closest she gets to politics is pro-worker memes. 13/

Read 9 tweets

Ashton Pittman

@ashtonpittman

10 Sep

THREAD: COVID-19 disinformation agents have killed countless people.

Most victims weren't dedicated soldiers of the anti-vaccine cause; they passively absorbed it from those who were.

Such is the tragedy of "Teresa," a mother, grandmother & waitress who feared the vaccine. 1/

Most of Teresa's Facebook posts consists of her sharing photos of her children and grandchildren, happy birthday wishes to her parents, and most of all, memes.

Many of those memes are ones she identifies with as a working class waitress in the food service industry. 2/

Teresa doesn't have much to say about race, though she did once share a sharebait "white lives matter too" meme. She's also shared self-deprecating memes about her whiteness and about white "Karens." 3/

Read 35 tweets

Ashton Pittman

@ashtonpittman

10 Sep

NEW: In just five weeks, Mississippi schools have reported more COVID-19 cases among K-12 students than during all 10 months of the 2020-2021 school year.

From August 2020-May 2021, ~17,600 students tested positive. In the past five weeks? At least 18,825.mississippifreepress.org/15762/mississi…

Across 19 weeks during the fall 2020 semester, 9,408 students in Mississippi's public K-12 schools tested positive for COVID-19.

During the first 5 weeks of the fall 2021 semester, 18,825 students have tested positive for COVID-19. mississippifreepress.org/15762/mississi…

Along with the arrival of the more contagious delta variant, another significant difference from the previous school year is that Gov. Tate Reeves issued a statewide school mask mandate in August 2020 but refused to do so this year. mississippifreepress.org/15762/mississi…

Read 8 tweets

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