COVID-19 pandemic in Mississippi
New cases were reported in Adams, Franklin, Humphreys, Lawrence, Lee, Marshall, Monroe, Pike, Rankin, Tippah, and Webster counties, while additional cases were reported in Coahoma, DeSoto, Hancock, Harrison, Hinds, Holmes, Jackson, and Madison counties.
[7] On July 9, the Mississippi statehouse was closed due to an outbreak in the legislature, as 26 lawmakers and 10 Capitol employees tested positive for COVID-19.
[12] Reeves recently came back from a trip from Spain (a country hit hard by the virus) and stated that he will voluntarily work from home for precautionary purposes.
[15] On March 24, Governor Reeves issued an executive order deeming most businesses as "essential" including restaurants, bars and other establishments, and limiting dine-in services to 10 persons.
[16] However, the wording of the executive order lead to some confusion among local governments on the authority of the state overriding that of restrictions put into place by municipalities and counties.
[19] This overrode previous allowances for dine-in services in restaurants made in the March 24 executive order.
However, on May 2, the governor postponed plans to reopen the economy after 397 new cases were confirmed, the largest increase Mississippi had experienced.
[25] Beginning May 12, the wearing of face masks would be required in public when social distancing is not possible, and inside businesses, within seven counties identified as having a high rate of new cases.
[citation needed] On July 11, Reeves announced a new mask order covering Claiborne, De Soto, Grenada, Harrison, Hinds, Jackson, Jefferson, Madison, Quitman, Rankin, Sunflower, Washington, and Wayne counties, which took effect on July 13.
The statewide mandate was put in place as the county-by-county approach Reeves implemented over the summer failed to prevent a rising tide of new cases that threatened to overwhelm the state's hospitals.
Tate claimed that the time for government intervention was over, citing the massive drop in hospitalization cases.
