OurTupelo

Vicksburg Mayor George Flaggs has done public service announcements on television and in his hometown newspaper urging his constituents to get the COVID-19 vaccination.

Unfortunately, Flaggs said, he did not heed his own advice. Now Flaggs, who said he is doing well recovering from the coronavirus, is redoubling his efforts to encourage people to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

“Absolutely, I am still encouraging people to get vaccinated,” Flaggs said Wednesday. “I was putting everybody else before myself. But it was indefensible for me not to get vaccinated. All I can do now is encourage everyone to take the vaccine.”

Flaggs confirmed earlier this week he had tested positive for COVID-19. He said he first got sick while attending the Mississippi Municipal League’s annual conference from July 26-28 in Biloxi. The event hosts mayors and thousands of other elected officials from around the state. Flaggs said he took safeguards to try to ensure he did not infect anyone else.

The third term mayor and former state House member said he had a runny nose when he left for the convention, but it did not dawn on him it might be the early stages of the coronavirus.

“I did not pay that much attention to it,” he said of the runny nose.

But soon after getting to the conference, he said he began to get body aches and feel bad.

He said he stayed in his hotel room for about 30 hours after he began to feel ill and left to travel home after he was feeling better. Upon returning home, he immediately went to get tested. He said his first test came back negative, but a second test confirmed he had the coronavirus.

Flaggs said he was fortunate that he never was severely ill. He said he briefly ran a fever, had body aches and a headache. The 68-year-old mayor said he never lost his senses of taste or smell. Flaggs said he knows COVID-19 is serious and has had family members and friends who contracted the coronavirus and died.

“It is no joke,” he said. “It is serious. I have enough experience with it to know that. I should have gotten the vaccine.”

Flaggs said he will go back to the doctor Friday and anticipates returning to city hall Monday to resume his duties.

There have been reports of other people attending the Municipal League conference contacting the virus. But Greenville Mayor Errick Simmons, who is president of the Municipal League, said he did not know of any other of the 2,000 people attending the conference getting sick.

Attendees were urged to wear masks, though they were not mandated. Plus, reports indicate that hand sanitizer was readily available throughout the event and people were urged to socially distance.

Also during the past two weeks, thousands attended the Neshoba County Fair where attendees often stayed overnight in close contact in the cabins that line the fairgrounds.

The recent surge in cases — a seven day average of 115 cases in mid June to more than 2,800 cases reported on Wednesday — has created a quandary for organizers of events like the fair and the Municipal League conference. After being canceled last summer because of COVID-19, many events organizers, based on the dramatic drop in cases earlier this year and the availability of the vaccine, assumed it would be safe to return to near business as usual.

Meanwhile, Mississippi is seeing its worst COVID-19 spike since the pandemic began in early 2020. As of this week, Mississippi hospitals are stretched thinner than they have since the pandemic began in early 2020. This is due to the Delta variant of the coronavirus, which is much more infectious than previous strains.

READ MORE: Where and how to get a COVID-19 vaccine in Mississippi

The post ‘I should have gotten the vaccine’: Vicksburg Mayor Flaggs admits mistake after contracting COVID-19 appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Claire Pride isn’t a political person. So as COVID-19 policies and recommendations became more and more politicized the past few months, the 28-year-old Madison resident didn’t feel the need to get the vaccine.

She wasn’t necessarily opposed to getting the shot, but it wasn’t something she felt led to do. When the vaccine was first made available, she wanted older, more at-risk people to get vaccinated first. Later, she believed that younger, healthy people like her were safe from the worst effects.

“There wasn’t any one reason, but I just wasn’t sure about it,” Pride said. “I didn’t do a ton of research. I thought since I didn’t get the virus the first round, I work out three or four times a week, I don’t have any other health concerns, I’ll just see what happens and probably be fine.”

Her perspective changed dramatically as she laid in the Intensive Care Unit at Baptist hospital in Jackson for five days last week with COVID pneumonia.

“It’s insane how fast it happened,” Pride told Mississippi Today on Wednesday. “They say it feels like getting hit by a bus, but I swear it was worse than that. I couldn’t get up out of bed to walk three feet across the room. I couldn’t breathe at all. I told the nurses several times that I was about to die.

“I want everyone to see what it can do to a healthy 28-year-old,” Pride continued. “You need to know where I ended up because I chose not to get the vaccine.”

Pride is among a little less than 2 million Mississippians who have not yet received a COVID-19 vaccine, making the state second-to-last in percentage of residents who have not received the shot. 

That figure is made even more alarming as the worst-ever COVID-19 spike grips the state and overloads the hospital system. As of this week, Mississippi hospitals are stretched thinner than they have since the pandemic began in early 2020. This is due to the Delta variant of the coronavirus, which is much more infectious than previous strains.

A disconcerting trend that physicians across the state and nation have reported is that younger people like Pride are being affected now more than ever. One theory for this phenomenon: Younger people are often choosing not to get vaccinated.

Mississippi State Department of Health data shows that younger generations are getting vaccinated less than older generations. As of Aug. 4, just 21% of Mississippians ages 18-24 had been fully vaccinated; 24% ages 25-39; 38% aged 40-49;  53% ages 50-64; and 71% ages 65 and up had been fully vaccinated.

Pride’s harrowing journey began on July 25, when she felt fatigued and nauseous and lost her senses of taste and smell.

“I was like, ‘Crap, I guess I have COVID,’” Pride recalled of those first few hours. Still not overly concerned, she began taking the suggested over-the-counter medicines for COVID treatment and stayed home.

Five days later, feeling sicker than ever, she texted a nurse friend and asked how difficult it should be to breathe. The friend brought Pride a blood oxygen reader. Normal blood oxygen levels should fall between 90-100 millimeters of mercury. Pride’s level was 64. For reference, any level below 60 requires the need to supplemental oxygen.

“My friend said, ‘Do not do anything else. Go the emergency room immediately,’” Pride recalled. “I went to my local ER and stayed the night. The next day, I was transferred by ambulance to the Baptist ICU in Jackson.”

The grueling next five days in the Baptist ICU changed Pride’s perspective on COVID-19 and the vaccines. When she was moved out of the ICU to a regular room on Aug. 3, she posted an earnest plea to her Facebook friends to get vaccinated.

“I just didn’t realize people my age were being affected the way that they are,” Pride said of the Facebook post. “I wanted all my friends to see it.”

The Facebook post went viral, being shared widely across the state and region. In an Aug. 4 interview with Mississippi Today, Pride said that she’d guess between 50-100 people who heard her story reached out and said they made vaccine appointments for the first time.

Pride said she was feeling much better and hoped to go home to her dogs later in the week.

“I really live my life trying not to regret anything,” Pride said. “But I think if I had seen somebody in my position three weeks before it happened to me, I think I would’ve gone to get the vaccine. I can tell you this: When I’m eligible to get one after having the virus, I’ll have a vaccine appointment set up.”

READ MORE: Where and how to get a COVID-19 vaccine in Mississippi.

The post This healthy 28-year-old didn’t get a COVID vaccine. She ended up in the ICU. appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Hinds County Sheriff Lee D. Vance died Wednesday in his home, according to a statement tweeted by the Hinds County Sheriff’s Office.

At about 11:15 a.m. Wednesday, an ambulance responded to a medical emergency at Vance’s home, according to the statement. When medical personnel arrived, he was found unresponsive and pronounced dead by noon.

Vance tested positive for COVID-19 on July 22 although he was fully vaccinated. He was in quarantine and recovering at his home.

It has not yet been confirmed whether Vance died of COVID-19 or complications related to the coronavirus.

Vance reported a COVID-19 outbreak on July 21 at the Raymond Detention Facility and Work Center, facilities overseen by the Hinds County Sheriff’s Office. Officials confirmed 74 COVID-19 cases — 14 employees and 60 detained people — after random rapid testing was conducted.

Other employees within the HCSO also tested positive for COVID-19 and were in quarantine, though the official number of people was not available at the time, HCSO Captain Tyree Jones said in an email.

Vance’s death comes as the highly infectious Delta variant of COVID-19 rapidly spreads across the state, causing a “fourth wave” of coronavirus infections in Mississippi. Mississippi emergency room visits by suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients is now the highest it’s been since the pandemic began in early 2020.

Vance was elected Hinds County Sheriff in 2019 and had previously worked with the Jackson Police Department for over 30 years, including serving as police chief from 2014 to 2017.

“The City of Jackson collectively grieves the loss of Hinds County Sheriff Lee Vance and sends its prayers to his family…His lifetime of service spanned from serving as a JPD officer to later rising up the ranks to become JPD chief of police and finally serving as our beloved sheriff. Sheriff Vance was not only a friend to our city, but I considered him a personal friend of mine…Our prayers are with his family and all of those who were touched by his life,” Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba said in a statement published Wednesday.

READ MORE: COVID-related emergency room visits higher than any point as virus rips through Mississippi

The post Hinds County Sheriff Lee Vance found dead in his home appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Peyton Manning could have chosen any number of people to be his presenter when he is inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this weekend.

Archie Manning knows it.

“Peyton could have chosen Jim Irsay, who was so good to him as owner of the Indianapolis Colts,” Archie Manning said in a phone conversation Tuesday. “He could have chosen Bill Polian, the general manager who drafted him. He could have chosen either of his brothers, Cooper or Eli, and I surely would have been fine with that. He could have chosen Tony Dungy or another of his many coaches for whom he has so much respect.”

But if you know the Manning family — and especially if you know Archie and you know Peyton — you knew Peyton would opt for his dad to unveil his Hall of Fame bust at Canton, Ohio. There was absolutely no doubt. 

“I am honored and I am thrilled,” Archie Manning said. “I have enjoyed the journey and I am going to enjoy this.”

Archie and his wife, Olivia, will fly to Canton from New Orleans on Friday and will attend the Hall of Fame’s annual gold jacket dinner that night. On Saturday night, Archie will be on stage and will take the cover off Peyton’s Hall of Fame bust. It will be a family affair. Eli Manning and his family will be there. Cooper Manning and his family will attend. More than 100 of Peyton’s former teammates have made arrangements to go, which tells you something about Peyton Manning right there. 

Archie Manning has no live speaking part in the program. The NFL already dispatched a film crew to New Orleans to tape his remarks, which will be part of the presentation. Of course, Peyton will speak. Never one to under-prepare for anything, Peyton wrote his speech and has practiced it. Archie has read it.

“I think he nails it,” Archie Manning said.

Everyone who keeps up with pro football at all has known for years that Peyton Manning would be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. His numbers boggle the mind: five times an MVP, two times a Super Bowl champion, 14 Pro Bowls, nearly 72,000 passing yards, 539 passing touchdowns.

Still, says his father, “I don’t take this for granted and I know Peyton doesn’t. He never has talked about the Hall of Fame with me, except to talk about teammates. He was so happy when Marvin Harrison went in. He’s thrilled to be going in with Edgerrin James. When this class was announced, I really believe Peyton was more thrilled for his good friend John Lynch than he was for himself.”

Archie Manning says Peyton’s Hall of Fame induction has sparked no small amount of reflection on his part.

“I think about coming out of the locker room in the Superdome and Peyton and Cooper, little guys then, would be playing with each other, using rolled up tape for a football,” Archie Manning said. “I think about all those games out in the backyard. You know, Cooper is two years older and when his friends came over to play, Peyton was out there with them and they would beat him up pretty good. I don’t think there’s any doubt that’s where a lot of his toughness came from. I mean, they didn’t cut him any slack. Peyt had to be tough.

“I think about when Cooper was a high school senior and Peyton was a sophomore — the one year they got to be teammates — and just how much fun that was,” Archie continued. “Peyton threw and Cooper caught and they were so successful. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed a football season more than that one.”

Archie Manning was 20 when his ailing father took his own life. At the 2007 Super Bowl in Miami, before Peyton’s Colts defeated the Chicago Bears 29-17, Archie Manning talked about his father, Buddy Manning.

“What I regret most are the things I could have included him in,” Archie told me. “There was so much in those next two years at Ole Miss and then in pro football that I could have included him in, the places I got to go, the things I got to do, the people I got to meet. He would have loved it. Man, he would have loved it.”

That probably has much to do with why Archie would fly back to New Orleans almost nightly so he could have dinner with his family after he was traded from the Saints to the Houston Oilers. That’s why he has never missed a game his sons played if he could help it. That’s why he has always been there to lend advice and support, but not to get in the way — same with Olivia Manning.

“Archie and Olivia are the gold standard for parents,” said Duke football coach David Cutcliffe, who coached Peyton at Tennessee and Eli at Ole Miss. “I don’t know any other way to say it. They are the gold standard. You see it in all three of their sons. I am not talking about just the football. I am talking about the manners, the way they act, the teammates they are, the students they were, the men they have become.

“I have always believed that the most difficult test in life is how you handle success, not failure,” Cutcliffe continued. “Those three sons have handled success as well as you can ever imagine. For lack of a better word, they could have been brats but they have been the total opposite. They’ve all given back. The way they handle themselves — the work ethic they all have — is a credit to Archie and Olivia. It’s just beautiful. If more people lived like that, we’d have a whole lot better world.”

No doubt. 

I am reminded of the passage from John Underwood’s fine book, “Manning,” where Peyton talks about a visit to Drew with his father when they visited Buddy Manning’s grave.

Said Peyton, “Dad got a little emotional telling me about it….He said what a shock it had been. Then he said he knew his dad loved him but never told him so, and I was reminded of how often he tells us — Cooper, Eli and me. How he never ends a telephone call without letting us know. How he’s always there for us. I think I really began to feel it when I was 17 or 18 and Cooper was 19 or 20, which was the corresponding time in life when he lost his dad. I’d feel it when he put his arm around me. I’d feel it in the empathy and the caring he’d always show for what was going on in our lives. So I understand now, and it’s not complicated at all. What he missed, he never wanted us to miss. But what explains him best of all is the part we had already grown accustomed to. The love part.”

The post No one has enjoyed Peyton Manning’s Hall of Fame journey more than his dad appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Mississippi emergency room visits by suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients is now the highest it’s been since the pandemic began in early 2020. 

The peak of 1,077 visits seen during the first week of January was eclipsed last week with 1,218 visits. The number of weekly COVID-related ER visits has increased 150% over the past month alone. This surge in emergency room visits is being caused by the Delta variant of the coronavirus, which is up to two times as infectious as the original strain of COVID-19. 

Unvaccinated Mississippians are driving this surge in cases, deaths, hospitalizations and emergency room visits the state is experiencing. Between June 1 and August 1, 97% of COVID-19 cases, 89% of hospitalizations and 85% of deaths were among the unvaccinated. 

In some areas of the state, patients who would normally be in an ICU are having to receive care in an emergency room because there are no ICU beds available, according to Jim Craig, director of health protection for the Mississippi State Department of Health.

The state is currently averaging 131 new COVID-19 hospitalizations per day. Only 108 of the 827 adult ICU beds in Mississippi are currently open, with multiple hospitals across the state at maximum capacity.

“This is far exceeding our hospitals’ capacity to take care of them,” said State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs said.

READ MORE: COVID-19 has killed thousands of Mississippians this year. All but 37 were unvaccinated.

As scientists continue to collect data on the newest variant that is spreading rapidly, medical experts continue to reiterate that vaccination remains the best protection against contracting the Delta variant. The nation’s leading medical researchers agree that vaccines are nearly as effective against the Delta variant as the original strain, greatly minimizing the chance of infection and nearly eliminating the risks of developing a serious illness.

Studies suggest, however, that being fully vaccinated is the only adequate protection against the Delta variant, as a single shot of either of the two-dose mRNA vaccines provides only weak protection against infection. Of the 2,400 Mississippians who died of COVID-19 between Jan. 1 and July 22 of this year, only 37 were fully vaccinated.

Though Mississippi is no longer last in the nation for the share of its population that has been vaccinated, it still trails 48 other states. Only 34% of Mississippians have been fully vaccinated, according to data compiled by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The post COVID-related emergency room visits higher than any point as virus rips through Mississippi appeared first on Mississippi Today.

The post Marshall Ramsey: Parachute appeared first on Mississippi Today.

This photo gallery is part of our new initiative, MT Listens. Learn more about the project here or be part of it by taking our survey.

Take a virtual stroll through Canton, a historic Mississippi community with about 12,000 residents, through the lens of Mississippi Today photojournalist Vickie King.

Canton is just one of five communities our newsroom is focusing on for our community listening project, MT Listens. The others are Yazoo City, Forest, Moss Point and New Albany.

Be part of the project.

If you live in Canton, Yazoo City, Forest, Moss Point or New Albany, please take a minute to fill out the below survey, or share it with someone you know.

The post Canton: Small town, big charm appeared first on Mississippi Today.

The fate of the Holmes County Consolidated School District now rests in the hands of Gov. Tate Reeves.

The State Board of Education voted unanimously on Tuesday to request that Reeves immediately declare a state of extreme emergency in the district which would place it under state control. The current school superintendent would be replaced and the local school board would be abolished. The state board would serve in its place.

The State Board of Education also recommended Jennifer Wilson, the former superintendent of Greenwood School District, serve as interim superintendent for the district should a state of emergency be declared.

Except for Gov. Phil Bryant’s alternate approach to declaring a state of emergency in Jackson Public Schools in 2017, a governor has never declined to sign off on the state board’s recommendation. The state has placed schools in this model, which is now termed a “District of Transformation,” 20 times since since 1997.

The results of a nearly 400-page audit conducted by the Mississippi Department of Education include allegations of a dysfunctional school board and administration, improper spending, inaccurate record keeping and unlicensed teachers in the classroom. 

The audit, which took place over the course of three months, also repeatedly refers to a lack of accurate data provided by the district, making it impossible to assess some standards or to determine the degree to which the district was noncompliant in others.

State Superintendent of Education Carey Wright spoke only once during the board’s five-hour-long meeting on Tuesday to clarify how the department came to this point.

“When audits are complete and we then sit down and look at the findings, we have a choice at that time. We can either make a recommendation to withdraw or reduce their accreditation status … but we can also look at data and say, ‘No, actually we really do believe a state of emergency exists,’” she explained. “… That is an option we take, a discussion that we have prior to making any type of recommendation.”

District officials like the newly appointed superintendent Debra Powell and Board President Louise Winters argued that the district was already working to correct the problems it had.

“We are not who that audit says we are. Not today,” Powell told the board. “We are doing things differently.”

But she did not manage to convince the department of this.

Board member Karen Elam asked Paula Vanderford, the department’s chief accountability officer, whether she saw different practices and policies under the new superintendent.

“Many of the reports indicate the practices that existed prior to this administration still exist,” replied Vanderford.

A declaration of a state of emergency in the district would mean the district’s accreditation could be withdrawn; an interim superintendent would be appointed and remain there until the district reaches a grade of C or higher for five years; the local school board would be temporarily disbanded; and the interim superintendent would work with district staff to correct all accreditation violations and raise student achievement.

If such a declaration occurs, officials from the Mississippi Department of Education will meet with administration, faculty and staff from the district, then with parents and community leaders during a series of evening meetings.

The board’s request for a proclamation expires Aug. 17.

The post State Board of Education asks Gov. Reeves to pave way for state takeover of Holmes County schools appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Of the 2,400 Mississippians who died of COVID-19 between Jan. 1 and July 22 of this year, only 37 were fully vaccinated, according to data obtained from the Mississippi State Department of Health.

That means 98.4% of the people who died from COVID-19 during that period were unvaccinated, while 1.6% were vaccinated people who experienced breakthrough infections. All 37 of the breakthrough deaths were from high-risk patients aged 65 or older. 

MSDH reported 4,991 new COVID-19 cases and 13 deaths on Monday, further documenting the hold the virus’ Delta variant has on the state.

As scientists continue to collect data on the newest variant that is spreading rapidly, medical experts continue to reiterate that vaccination remains the best protection against contracting the Delta variant. The nation’s leading medical researchers agree that vaccines are nearly as effective against the Delta variant as the original strain, greatly minimizing the chance of infection and nearly eliminating the risks of developing a serious illness.

Studies suggest, however, that being fully vaccinated is the only adequate protection against the Delta variant, as a single shot of either of the two-dose mRNA vaccines provides only weak protection against infection.

With the Delta variant infecting minors at higher rates than the original strain of COVID-19, and those under 12 still ineligible for vaccination, State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs has said that Mississippians need to create a “protective cocoon” of vaccinated people around children to protect them from the virus and keep them in school. 

“This is going to take all of society trying to protect our kids,” Dobbs said. “Because if we don’t, I do think we’re going to have a lot more kids getting COVID. Most kids will get over just fine, but some are going to have a lot more trouble.”

READ MORE: Teachers union calls on Reeves to mandate masks in schools

The threat posed by the Delta variant does appear to be motivating an uptick in vaccinations; over the past two weeks, Mississippi has seen a 56% increase in vaccinations.

Though Mississippi is no longer last in the nation for the share of its population that has been vaccinated, it still trails 48 other states. Only 34% of Mississippians have been fully vaccinated, according to data compiled by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The post COVID-19 has killed thousands of Mississippians this year. All but 37 were unvaccinated. appeared first on Mississippi Today.

With Delta being as contagious as chicken pox, this school year will face serious headwinds.

The post Marshall Ramsey: Wheels on the Bus appeared first on Mississippi Today.