NATCHEZ, Miss. – The Adams County Board of Supervisors has extended the local mask mandate through January as the number of people here infected with COVID continues to rise.
The count has been “spiking in the last three weeks,” said Adams County Emergency Management Director Brad Bradford.
More than 160 new cases in Adams County have been confirmed by the Mississippi Department of Health since Oct. 24. All total, at least 1,250 Adams County residents have contracted the respiratory disease and 47 have died since the state agency began collecting data in March.
“We anticipate that number going up,” said Bradford, who’s coordinating the county’s response to the public-health crisis. As of Sunday, he said, there were 88 active cases of people with the contagious disease.
At Bradford’s request Monday, the Board of Supervisors extended the requirement for people to wear face coverings inside public places until Jan. 31, or until the number of active cases falls below 25. The mandate covers all of Adams County to include Natchez and places outside the city.
City and county officials initiated the mask mandate July 3. “I know it’s inconvenient for some people,” said county board President Ricky Gray. “We’ve got to do what we’ve got to do to keep our community safe.”
Covering mouths and noses is the key way to protect people from the airborne spread of the coronavirus.
The five-member county board Monday unanimously approved extending its mask-wearing order through January. It was set to expire Nov. 30. County Supervisor Wes Middleton questioned why the order should be stretched out so far into the new year, but he voted for the extension, as did Supervisor Kevin Wilson. They voted against extending the mandate last month, when the board pushed it forward through November.
In recommending the mandate stay in place for another two months, Bradford noted families and crowds are expected to congregate in Natchez for the holiday season.
When the local mask ordinance was first put in effect July 3, the order required people to wear some type of face covering inside and outside of public places where social distancing is not possible. This includes all businesses and outdoor venues where crowds gather.
The mask order has caught violators being cited by police and fined $50. Businesses allowing customers without face coverings could be fined $100.
Mississippi does not have a mask-wearing requirement statewide, but Gov. Tate Reeves has imposed such a mandate on 22 of the state’s 82 counties.
“We can slow the spread and bridge the gap between now and when this vaccine becomes readily available and protect the integrity of our healthcare system” the governor said Monday in announcing more counties had been added to the list. Adams is not one of them.
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