The spread of COVID-19 prompted Governor Tate Reeves to declare a state of emergency Saturday, even as school districts cancel classes, communities postpone sporting events and other gatherings and shoppers clear grocery stores of toilet paper and hand sanitizer.
Reeves’ declaration came a day after President Donald Trump declared a national emergency and two days after the Mississippi Department of Health announced the state’s first presumptive positive case of the new coronavirus. Six people in Mississippi — in Forrest, Leflore, Copiah and Pearl River counties — have been diagnosed with the virus since Thursday, with 90 throughout the state having been tested, according to MSDH’s website Saturday afternoon. Three of the six have been hospitalized.
The declaration allows the state to secure more funding and resources for MSDH, Mississippi Emergency Management Agency and other state health officials to fight the virus. It also allows schools that have canceled classes to not build make-up days into the schedule, said Columbus Municipal School District Superintendent Cherie Labat.
“(The declaration) also gives us the legal authority to close schools without board action,” she said.
CMSD, along with Lowndes County, Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated and West Point Consolidated school districts, have all canceled school from March 16-22, extending the districts’ spring break by a week. Some area private schools, including Heritage Academy, Starkville Academy and Annunciation Catholic School, have also canceled classes this week.
CMSD and SOCSD plan to still serve meals to students. Labat said in a text to The Dispatch that children under 18 can receive breakfast from 7-9 a.m. and lunch from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. at every school location beginning Monday. A notice posted on SOCSD’s website Friday said district administrators plan to begin a feeding program on Tuesday. They will release further details about the program Monday.
Local officials are also keeping an eye on the virus. Lowndes County Emergency Management Agency Director Cindy Lawrence said she is in touch with MSDH daily, while Oktibbeha County EMA Director Kristen Campanella said all emergency response agencies in her county have a virtual situation room in order to stay in contact with each other.
The city of Columbus Parks and Recreation Department has suspended all sports and other activities until April 1, according to a city press release, though Director Greg Lewis said any private events booked at the department’s venues are still on the schedule unless the organizers decide to cancel.
Roger Short, director of Lowndes County Parks and Recreation Department, said he is leaning toward canceling upcoming events as well, but that county officials will discuss the issue and make a decision following a joint meeting with county and EMA officials, Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle and MSHD on Monday.
“My suggestion to you would be to cease practices until I have the recommendation coming out of this joint meeting,” Short said in a statement to parents and coaches, which he shared with The Dispatch.
All Starkville Parks and Recreation athletics programs are canceled until March 23, Director Gerry Logan said. All facilities will still be open, both indoor and outdoor, but attendance at the Travis Outlaw Center will be limited to 250 people.
At Columbus Air Force Base, personnel are taking precautions recommended by the Department of Defense and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to a CAFB press release. Otherwise, operations are normal, and the base is not on lockdown, the release says.
The Starkville-MSU Area Rapid Transit system will continue to run as usual, SMART Director Jeremiah Dumas said.
Starkville’s third annual Pride Parade, which was originally scheduled for Saturday, has been postponed until the fall.
Empty shelves
By mid-day Saturday, the traffic at Starkville grocery stores appeared normal until shoppers reached the areas where things such as toilet paper and hand-sanitizers are usually shelved.
Quinn Cooley, a night manager at Vowell’s, said her store was out of disinfectants such as GermX and Lysol, with no idea when new stock of those items would come in.
“It’s been crazy,” she said. “We are completely out of toilet paper, completely out of hand sanitizers and completely out of disinfectants. We called our warehouses. They don’t have any GermX, Lysol or any kind of disinfectants. We were told it would be four months before we got any more. Our store manager has been calling warehouses and suppliers everywhere. I don’t know what we are going to do, to be honest.”
Walmart locations in both Columbus and Starkville were out of toilet paper and hand sanitizer Saturday, as were Kroger locations in both cities. An associate at Sunflower on Military Road in Columbus said the store still had toilet paper as of Saturday morning, but was out of hand sanitizer.
Dispatch reporters Slim Smith and Tess Vrbin contributed to this report.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.