Gov. Tate Reeves extended a mask mandate that covers most of the state in efforts to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, he announced Friday afternoon.
The mandate, which requires the wearing of masks in public areas and has been in effect for weeks as the number of COVID-19 cases in the state has surged, has been extended until Feb. 3. The order covers 73 of the state’s 82 counties, including all of Mississippi’s major population areas. In recent weeks the mandate has covered most of the state, but Reeves has resisted calls to issue a statewide order.
The areas not covered by the mandate are primarily rural counties on the western side of the state: Adams, Claiborne, Issaquena, Jefferson, Lawrence, Quitman, Sharkey, Tunica and Wilkinson.
“It is important that we continue to take this virus seriously,” Reeves said in a statement. “We are working on getting Mississippi vaccinated, but continue to social distance, keep gatherings small and wear your mask.”
On Friday, the Mississippi State Department of Health reported 2,342 new coronavirus cases, 55 deaths and 220 outbreaks in long-term care facilities. Hospitals across the state have been stressed in recent weeks because of the surge in cases. In total, Mississippi has experienced 248,189 cases and 5,411 deaths from the coronavirus.
The governor also extended the requirement that masks be worn statewide on school grounds. The executive order also limits crowd sizes at various gatherings.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s eviction moratorium starting Sept. 4 caused at least one unintended consequence: Most renters were then no longer deemed at a great enough risk of homelessness to qualify for the only rental assistance program available at the time.
Mississippi Home Corporation director and chair of the National Council of State Housing Agencies Scott Spivey
Now, the nonprofits running the Rental Assistance for Mississippians Program (RAMP) have shut off the program altogether until the moratorium lifts. Scott Spivey, Mississippi Home Corporation director and chair of the National Council of State Housing Agencies, said the state’s local housing partners have stopped offering rental assistance with their federal Emergency Solutions Grant, through which the state received $18 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development during the pandemic, because of guidance from the federal agency.
HUD did not respond to questions in several phone messages and emails.
But the moratorium never guaranteed that evictions would cease to occur during the pandemic because renters had to first be aware of the federal order, meet several requirements to qualify and provide a declaration to their landlord before potentially going to court. Even then, a judge might not honor it.
Meanwhile, housing hangs in the balance for hundreds of thousands of Mississippians as rent debts continue to pile up. Officials estimated that between 100,000 and 150,000 families in renter households across the state were at risk of eviction and that past due rent could reach as high as $225 million in January, according to a September report global advisory firm Stout conducted for the National Council of State Housing Agencies.
There are two other pots of money Mississippi can still use for rental assistance, but programs to administer those funds have not begun. These funds would not have the same restrictions as the Emergency Solutions Grant and could be used during the moratorium, Spivey said.
Only about $13 million in pandemic relief has been used to alleviate this burden on renters in Mississippi so far, though $276 million has been allocated or made available for this use.
A new relief bill Congress passed last month extended the moratorium, which was set to expire at the end of December, to Jan. 31. President-elect Joe Biden has announced plans to request another extension. Because many tenants haven’t been able to secure rental assistance — such as the roughly 6,700 people RAMP has turned away — their debt will be waiting for them when the ban lifts. When it does, state law permits landlords to begin kicking out delinquent tenants immediately.
Mississippi Center for Justice is helping provide resources to renters who have gotten behind on rent, such as whether the moratorium applies to them, how to invoke it and where to apply for assistance through a hotline that may be reached at 228-702-9983.
Here is the status of each program designed to help renters during the pandemic:
Rental Assistance for Mississippians Program(RAMP) – $3 million/$18 million
Mississippi received $18 million in pandemic relief funds through the existing Emergency Solutions Grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which it started administering through the RAMP program in July. Due to stiff federal guidelines and strict eligibility, the funds have been awarded slowly, just about $3 million in the first six months. By January, officials had suspended the program until the moratorium lifts.
The Mississippi Legislature allocated $20 million in rental assistance grants to be administered by the Mississippi Development Authority and awarded to property owners as opposed to tenants. The money, which came from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, had to be spent by the end of 2020. Beginning in November, the agency approved applications for 4,363 units and awarded $9.7 million in residential grants and $3.8 million in grants for commercial properties. The program has concluded, MDA spokesperson Melissa Scallan told Mississippi Today.
Community Development Block Grant funds – $0/$38 million
Mississippi received an additional $38 million in Community Development Block Grant funds during the pandemic and Gov. Tate Reeves told Mississippi Today in October he would commit the entire amount to rental assistance. The program has yet to begin, Spivey said, as local agencies await federal guidance.
December COVID relief package – $0/$200 million
Under the new stimulus package Congress passed Dec. 20 and President Donald Trump signed Dec. 27, Mississippi is eligible to receive about $200 million out of $25 billion for rental assistance. The program has yet to begin.
The state health department announced Friday that it received additional doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, which will go towards already booked appointments next week. The press release adds that the Mississippi Department of Health anticipates new appointments will be available the week of Jan. 25.
The news comes two days after MSDH said it ran out of doses for new appointments. The department later clarified that those seeking a second dose and those who already booked appointments would not be affected.
The earlier release also said MSDH hoped to receive a large shipment of vaccine in February, causing some to think that the state would be out of new doses until then.
“The anticipated arrival of significantly more vaccine in February is in addition to the steady, modest supply that we are currently receiving weekly,” Friday’s press release clarified.
The University of Mississippi Medical Center, which manages the state’s booking system for vaccine appointments, said it was unprepared for this week’s expansion of eligibility to those 65 and over and to those with pre-existing conditions. Mississippians on social media shared frustrations over long wait times and confusion with the state’s phone line and online booking system.
“There are more people with pre-existing conditions or 65+ than there are doses of the vaccine today,” Gov. Tate Reeves tweeted Wednesday. “So not everyone will have the ability to get a dose immediately or at their preferred site.”
“If you’ve gotten your first dose, or have an appointment for it, you’ll get your second dose,” he added. “We have plenty of appointments and the ability to logistically handle everyone. Just need more first doses.”
Now in the fifth week of administering doses, MSDH reported over 38,000 vaccinations this week alone, a huge surge compared to the 56,000 total vaccinations in the first four weeks combined.
Friday’s announcement also said the new allotment will include a “modest amount” for community partners.
“The additional vaccine will be distributed to community partners in a manner that seeks to address both geographic and racial disparities,” MSDH said.
State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs made a grim prediction on Thursday: January will likely be Mississippi’s worst month for COVID-19 morbidity of the pandemic.
“Total all-cause mortality rising quickly,” Dobbs tweeted on Thursday. “January will likely be the worst month for COVID deaths by far. Until we get good vaccination penetration and better control over the pandemic please continue to wear a mask in public and avoid social gatherings.”
On Thursday, Mississippi reported 41 new deaths, bringing January’s total COVID-related deaths to 505. January’s deaths through the first 14 days of the month make up 10% of the state’s total COVID deaths of the pandemic. Since March, when the state’s first case was confirmed, 5,356 deaths have been accounted to the virus.
Across the nation, 387,103 have died from COVID-related illnesses, according to the The COVID Tracking Project.
The Mississippi State Department of Health also reported a single-day record for deaths, 98, on Tuesday. Mississippians 65 and over, who this week became eligible to receive a vaccine before the state’s available vaccine appointments filled up, continue to represent the vast majority of COVID-19 deaths, accounting for 77% of them since the start of the pandemic.
As the country expands its vaccination rollout, Mississippi’s COVID-19 numbers have begun to steady after recently setting new records.
The seven-day rolling average for cases reached a new high on Jan. 10 of 2,431, but has since dropped back to around 2,000, where it’s remained since mid-December.
Nationally, Mississippi now ranks 13th in recent cases per capita, according to the Harvard Global Health Institute. As of Sunday, every state was in the “red zone” (recording over 25 daily new cases per 100,000 people).
Total hospitalizations, a lagging indicator, reached a new high on the rolling average on Jan. 8 at 1,474, and has remained around 1,400 since the new year. Hospitalizations have steadily increased for about three months now since mid-October. The number of COVID patients in the ICU also reached a new high, 360, on Jan. 12.
The health department reports that 198,888 people are presumed recovered as of Jan. 10.
The state Department of Health announced Wednesday that all of its appointments to administer vaccines are booked and no additional doses are available at this time.
“The Mississippi State Department of Health had a vaccine distribution plan in place that has been significantly altered in the last few days – especially in the last 24 hours,” MSDH said in the notice. “Neither the county health department drive-through sites, nor the UMMC vaccine scheduling website was designed to accommodate the monumental surge we are currently experiencing. At this time, we have no additional vaccine, and every appointment is tied to an actual vaccination.”
The notice went on to say that MSDH hopes to receive a large shipment of vaccine in mid-February. A MSDH spokesperson clarified that the announcement only refers to department’s availability, and that private clinics and hospitals schedule their own vaccinations.
On its Facebook page, the University of Mississippi Medical Center, which is handling the state’s vaccine scheduling system, said its “site and server were not prepared for the surge of page visits brought on by the announcement yesterday of vaccine availability for all Mississippians 65 and older and those in younger age ranges with underlying conditions.”
After initially making doses available for healthcare workers and long-term care center residents and staff, Gov. Tate Reeves announced last week the roll-out was moving ahead of schedule by opening of appointments for those 75 and older. On Tuesday, the state then expanded eligibility to those 65 and older, as well as those with pre-existing conditions, groups which were initially slated to become eligible in February.
As of Wednesday, the state had administered 73,931 vaccines out of the 264,650 doses it had distributed; about 90,000 of those doses, or 34%, went through the federal pharmacy partnership with CVS and Walgreens.
During a press conference Tuesday, Reeves lamented the slow rollout in hospitals, where less than half of their distributed doses had been administered, as well as at LTCs, where pharmacies attribute the issue to a “lack of personnel.”
The state Senate Education Committee on Wednesday unanimously moved forward a $1,000 pay raise for teachers and assistants and approved a bill providing reciprocity for teachers in other states to more easily get a license to teach here.
“Hopefully this will help address our teacher shortage here in Mississippi,” said Senate Education Chairman Dennis DeBar Jr., R-Leakesville. “… Obviously (a teacher raise) is well deserved, and I would like to see a bigger raise, absolutely, but this is a start.”
Under Senate Bill 2001, which now heads to the full Senate, starting teachers — those with zero to three years experience with a bachelor’s degree, would see a $1,110 increase, bringing their annual pay to $37,000. This is still below the Southeastern regional average of $38,420 and national average of $40,154. A study by the National Education Association of starting teacher salaries for 2018-2019 ranked Mississippi’s pay 46th among states.
Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann is pushing the pay raise and promising more in subsequent years — a major campaign promise in his successful campaign in 2019.
“It’s bill No. 1, after the (new state) flag,” Hosemann said, and he’s still committed to ongoing raises. “My hope is to get us up to, and then in excess of the Southern average for teachers, particularly for surrounding states that we compete with for teachers.”
House Speaker Philip Gunn has recently said he wants to provide a teacher pay raise, but state budget numbers will have to be crunched to see if the state can afford one. Gov. Tate Reeves, who also campaigned promising teacher raises, did not include one in his budget recommendation to the Legislature.
The raise would cost about $51 million a year, DeBar said. He noted that a recent report shows the state’s roughly $6 billion budget is running about $325 million above revenue estimates. He and Hosemann said state finances appear sound and the state can afford the teacher raise.
Sen. Chad McMahan, R-Guntown, a member of the Education Committee, said, “I wish it could be more, but it’s important to me as a Republican to get a raise out there this year, but also to make sure it is a raise that taxpayers can afford.”
The committee also approved Senate Bill 2267, a measure to provide license reciprocity for teachers in other states who want to move to the Magnolia State. Several lawmakers reported hearing of problems with teachers moving here getting licensed in a timely manner by the Mississippi Department of Education.
“That’s a No. 1 complaint I hear,” said Sen. Angela Burks Hill, R-Picayune, “is delays in getting licensed, and not getting paid during that time.”
Teachers licensed in other states can now receive a temporary license, but often face problems, delays and red tape in receiving a standard five-year license, lawmakers said.
“The problem here is all the requirements, all the boxes you’ve got to check, and all the other stuff you’ve got to do — it’s a real disincentive to come here from another state,” said Sen. David Blount, D-Jackson, vice chairman of the committee. “Even if they don’t check every box, we would like to trust that local district and that local school board in hiring that teacher.”
DeBar recounted to his colleagues that a teacher from the Juilliard School in New York wanted to move to Mississippi and teach at the School of the Arts, “but for some reason her master’s degree wouldn’t work here and they wanted her to take more credits.”
Mississippi has for years suffered teacher shortages, particularly in poor and rural areas, and that is expected to worsen with increased costs of college tuition and a steep decline in college students completing education preparation programs.
According to a recent report released by Mississippi First, there has been a 32% decline in graduates of educator preparation programs from 2013-2014 to 2017-2018, and the out-of-state pipeline of teachers has diminished almost entirely with a 96% drop in four years.
“Kids are not going into teaching,” Hosemann said. “Part of that is economic, and we want to address that. But we are also looking at reciprocity, and looking at numerous other issues and policies to try to address that.”
In the second impeachment vote of President Donald Trump in less than a year, all three of Mississippi’s Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives voted with the minority Wednesday not to impeach President Donald Trump for “incitement of insurrection.”
The U.S. House of Representatives voted 232-197 on Wednesday to impeach Trump after his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 in efforts to overturn the presidential victory of Democrat Joe Biden.
Trump is one of three U.S. presidents to be impeached, and he is the first U.S. president to be impeached on two occasions. Wednesday’s precise impeachment charge, incitement of insurrection, is unprecedented in American history. The U.S. Senate will likely hear the impeachment trial later this month, after Biden is inaugurated, and decide whether to convict Trump and bar him from seeking office in the future.
Though 10 House Republicans voted on Wednesday to impeach Trump, Republican Reps. Trent Kelly of the 1st congressional district in north Mississippi; Rep. Michael Guest of the 3rd district in central Mississippi; and Steven Palazzo of the 4th district in south Mississippi all voted not to impeach the president.
Mississippi’s lone Democratic U.S. representative, Bennie Thompson, whose 2nd district includes much of the Delta and the Jackson area, voted with the majority to impeach the president for his role in inciting rioters who attacked the Capitol in an attempt to force lawmakers to reject the vote count overwhelmingly awarding the November election to Joe Biden.
All three of Mississippi’s House Republicans said impeachment would further divide an already divided country.
But on social media, the Democrat Thompson, who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee, said, “Moving forward with impeachment is divisive, but leading a charge in domestic terrorism isn’t? I think the other side needs help with their messaging.”
Kelly, who along with Guest met with a group of Mississippians who traveled to Washington, D.C., in hopes of overthrowing the election, said, “Today’s actions in the U.S. House of Representatives are not helpful to our nation. This is a time for healing, not division.”
Palazzo echoed similar comments, saying, “I earnestly believe this (impeachment) is the most inappropriate course of action at this time … It is abundantly clear that America is experiencing a time of uncertainty and turmoil, and we do not need to add more fuel to an already burning fire. President-elect Biden will be sworn into office … and, as President Trump promised, there will be a peaceful transition of power on Jan. 20.”
Earlier Guest announced his intentions to vote against the impeachment.
It is not clear when the Senate will take up the impeachment vote, but it is almost certain that by the time the Senate does, Trump will no longer be president.
When the Senate does take up the issue, Sen. Roger Wicker of Tupelo has said he will vote no. While Hyde-Smith has not sent out a statement, in an interview she recently said, “He’s got 10 days and he will leave office and let’s get on with things.”
Hyde-Smith, a staunch Trump ally, is expected to vote against the impeachment.
Hyde-Smith and the other Republicans in the congressional delegation, with the exception of Wicker, also all voted not to certify Biden’s win in Arizona and Pennsylvania on Wednesday – the same that the Capitol was attacked, resulting in five deaths, multiple injuries and widespread destruction. Wicker voted with the majority of Congress to certify the presidential election results of all 50 states.
Late in 2019, Trump was impeached for allegations of trying to force a foreign country to conduct a criminal investigation of the Biden family in exchange for receiving financial support.
All members condemned the Capitol violence.
Many of Mississippi’s elected Republican political leaders have been staunch supporters of the outgoing president. During a news conference on Monday, Republican Gov. Tate Reeves was asked if he thought Trump should resign or be removed from office. Reeves did not answer the question directly.
“I am not dodging the question,” Reeves replied, saying he did not have a vote in the United States House or Senate. He went on to say Trump’s tenure was near the end, and “we need to move on.”
The governor called the riots on the Capitol “disastrous” and said it caused him to “self reflect” on his and others’ political rhetoric. He said people need to accept that differences in America are settled through political debate and legislative bodies, and people “must recognize that is the way our system works.”
Reeves never specifically criticized Trump by name for his actions and rhetoric that have been condemned by both Republicans and Democrats and instead said, “I personally believe the rhetoric of Speaker Pelosi and many of her allies in the House was even more divisive and unnecessary.”
