WEST POINT — The Clay County Board of Supervisors opted to extend a county-wide curfew Thursday afternoon for an additional 30 days. The curfew, which was originally passed by the board on July 23, runs from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. and limits residents to essential travel only amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Before the vote, Clay County Emergency Management Agency Director Torrey Williams spoke to the board and urged the supervisors to “stay the course.”
“Last week, we were averaging about 10 new cases a day,” Williams said. “But now, we’re only adding about one or two a day. … We may be on the edge of it coming down, but we need that extra boost to make sure the numbers keep coming down.”
According to the Mississippi Department of Health, 585 new cases have been recorded in Mississippi as of Wednesday with 26 deaths. Clay County has had 465 total cases and 14 deaths.
The board asked Williams’ opinion of the outlook for cases in the fall, to which Williams showed concerns flu season may aggravate the spread of COVID-19.
“Nobody really knows what it’s going to do, but it’s predicted that it’ll ramp back up when you mix it with the flu,” Williams said.
The vote to extend the curfew was unanimous.
Hodge is the former sports editor for The Dispatch.
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