Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves Wednesday announced that he has extended his “Safe Recovery” executive order through Dec. 11. It had been set to expire today.
The governor also reset his county-specific orders, using the applicable data. The counties that now qualify for additional measures including mask requirements are Benton, Carroll, Covington, DeSoto, Forrest, Harrison, Humphreys, Jackson, Lamar, Lauderdale, Leflore, Lee, Marshall, Rankin, and Yalobusha.
“I know that we are all tired and ready to move on. But the virus is still here,” said Governor Reeves. “It’s still working to infect and kill. We’ve gotten far better at dealing with it, and allowing for life to go on. But we’re not all the way there yet. Keep fighting and protecting the most vulnerable in your life. No matter where you are, please do your best to social distance and wear a mask.”
NOTE: Reeves was likely set to announce these changes on Tuesday, but announced on social media he and his family were self-isolating with a positive test for his daughter Maddie. However, later Tuesday, Reeves provided an update saying that everyone in the Reeves’ family had received negative test results.
Quick update: Elee and our other girls tested negative again. So did I. Since Maddie also had a negative test as recently as yesterday we’re going to monitor closely and be cautious. I’ve heard and felt the outpouring of prayers, and they mean the world to Maddie and all of us!
The Mississippi State Department of Health Wednesday reported an additional 1,256 positive cases of coronavirus and 17 new death reports connected with the pandemic. None of the reported deaths came from DeSoto County. Alcorn County reported six of the 17 new death reports in Wednesday’s report.
As of Wednesday’s update, DeSoto County has report 8,430 positive cases of coronavirus during the pandemic and 85 virus-related deaths. There have been 100 long-term care outbreak reports and 20 fatal victims of the virus have been in long-term care facilities.
