County to remember pandemic victims
As the DeSoto County Board of Supervisors opened Monday’s meeting, a proclamation was approved marking Nov. 2 as a Day of Remembrance and Mourning for lives lost during the coronavirus pandemic.
In the proclamation, Board President Mark Gardner asked for a moment of silence at 12 noon on Tuesday, Nov. 2.
Laura Grisham of Sacred Heart Southern Missions was on hand Monday morning as the proclamation was read.
“We recognize that during the COVID-19 pandemic, over 720,000 Americans, almost 10,000 Mississippians, and almost 400 citizens of our own DeSoto County have died from this virus often alone and isolated from family and friends,” the proclamation read. “We further acknowledge that the people who have died from this coronavirus were our family, friends, neighbors, coworkers and fellow citizens.”
Nov. 2 each year is considered All Souls Day, also recognized as the Commemoration of All of the Faithful Departed, Dia de los Muertos and the Day of the Dead. It has traditionally been devoted to prayer and remembering loved ones who have died.
A bit later in the morning session of the board meeting, County EMS Director Mark Davis noted the most recent COVID-19 numbers were going down, but still asked the county emergency declaration be extended another month until at least Nov. 15, the second regularly-scheduled board meeting for the month of November.
“Our seven-day average of new cases is at 52, which is down 40 from the last two weeks,” Davis said. “Hospital wait times are down to about 45 minutes, which is about average.”
