Governor removes restrictions as COVID rates drop

Governor removes restrictions as COVID rates drop

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As more people are getting vaccinated and statewide COVID-19 infection and death rates fall, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves last Friday erased most restrictions he had set to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Reeves left one restriction in place — a mandate for students who are 6 or older to wear masks in schools for the rest of the current academic year. The school year ends within the next few weeks in most parts of the state.

The governor's new executive order removes capacity restrictions for sports events. Previously, indoor arenas could only fill two-thirds of their seats to allow for social distancing. School sporting events and other extracurricular activities were limited to 50% capacity for both indoor and outdoor events.

Reeves had already removed mask requirements in public spaces and all capacity restrictions for restaurants, bars and other businesses.

Madison County’s total COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began is now 10,055 which is 39 more than last week and the death toll rose by two to 217 this week, according to the Mississippi State Department of Health’s Wednesday COVID-19 report.

Meanwhile, 38% of Madison County’s population is fully vaccinated as of Wednesday, according to MSDH, and 43% of the county’s population has received one of the 84,248 total doses of COVID-19 vaccines administered in the county.

Vaccines are currently available for all Mississippians ages 16 and older and are available at the Walmart locations in Canton and Madison. Go to https://msdh.ms.gov/c19appointment#local to check availability.

Vaccinations also are currently being administered by appointment in Madison County at Canton High School, 634 Finney Road in Canton on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays.

Three combined Madison County schools — Germantown High School, Madison Crossing Elementary and St. Joseph Catholic School Madison — reported between one and five new cases of COVID-19 among students and another 12 students with confirmed COVID-19 at Mannsdale Elementary between April 26 and 30, the latest date for which figures are available, according to Tuesday’s MSDH report. Also, total of 18 students in the combined Madison County schools were quarantined for possible COVID-19 exposure during that same week.

The state's total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases now stands at 191,250 with 121,462 probable cases for a total of 312,712 cases as of Tuesday and 4,977 confirmed COVID-19 deaths and another 2,246 probable COVID-19 deaths for a total of 7,223 deaths since the pandemic began in March 2020.

The governor said he still encourages people to wear face coverings, maintain social distance and wash their hands while around other people. He said people who feel sick or have symptoms of COVID-19 should not attend social events.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.






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