PRESS RELEASE Contact Information: Lucia Randle, Communications Director City of Tupelo 662.841.6525 lucia.randle@tupeloms.gov
TUPELO TRANSIT CLOSING UNTIL APRIL 7, 2020
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Tupelo, MS, March 31, 2020
On Monday, March 30, 2020, a Tupelo Transit driver informed NEMS that he had tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday, March 28th. This employee’s last day of work was Monday, March 23, 2020. All passengers who rode with this driver within the past three weeks have been notified. Tupelo Transit has required all employees to now self-quarantine. All vehicles and office are being professionally sanitized and cleaned. Tupelo Transit will discontinue service until Tuesday, April 7, 2020, fourteen days since exposure as recommended by CDC.
Tupelo Transit is operated by Northeast Community Services. For more information contact Steve Gaines at NECS (662) 728-2118.
Public Transit is “essential critical infrastructure workforce” as outlined in the COVID-19 Response by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security/Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency.
Good morning, Tupelo and beyond. It’s Tuesday, March 31st and it’s the 91st day of the year.
On this day in history in 1146, Bernard of Clairveaux effectively kicks off the Second Crusade with his famous sermon in the field of Vezelay. In 1492, Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand of Aragon issued the Alhambra Decree which expelled Jews from their kingdoms. Oliver Cromwell declined the English crown in 1657. Jimi Hendrix burned his guitar for the first time in London in 1967. In 1981, the first Raspberry Award for Worst Motion Picture of the Year was given to Can’t Stop the Music.
Here’s your #TransformationTuesday quote of the day.
“Even your past pain can be a blessing to someone. Hope lifters are willing to reach back and pass hope on.”
Kathe Wunnenberg
Instead of sharing events, we’re now sharing resources to help you get through #socialdistancing. These resources will range from where to find free meals for your children through the week to virtual museum tours, learning resources, and other activities to do at home with the family. If you have any resources not listed that you would like to share with #OurTupelo drop your links in the comment section of this post.
Find the latest local Covid-19 updates directly from the Mississippi State Department of Health right here on their website.
Click the following links to read Mayor Shelton’s Executive Orders on the Emergency Proclamation declared by the Mayor and the City of Tupelo on Saturday, March 21, 2020.
Need to be tested for coronavirus? These clinics offer testing. All clinics are using curbside services or bringing symptomatic patients into an isolated area of the clinic to protect them and other patients. *If you are a clinic owner offering testing and do not see your clinic listed below, send us a private Facebook message to give us your info.
East Main Family Medical Clinic–curbside testing and isolation rooms for patients who need to come inside for treatment.
Friendship Medical Clinics–Tupelo, Ecru, and New Albany locations have curbside testing available. Stay in car at all times, call your clinic when you’re in line for registration.
Medplus Tupelo and Fulton locations offer curbside coronavirus testing. Check-in online at medpluscares.com and check cough and fever as your symptoms to get registered for testing. Wait for the clinic to call you to provide testing time.
Senior Hours at Local Grocery Stores
Todd’s Big Star’s Seniors Only Shopping Hours are on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 am – 12 pm. Regular shopping hours will resume from 12 pm – 8 pm. Todd’s will follow these new hours every Tuesday and Thursday while following normal business hours of 7 am – 8 pm on Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat, and Sun. Deli is open for takeout.
Food Giant of North Mississippi’s Senior Hour will be daily during the first hour they are open at 7 am.
Dollar General also offers its first hour of business to seniors and those at a higher risk of serious complications from coronavirus. Most locations open at 8 am, some open at 7 am. Check with your location to confirm their hours.
Cockrell Banana offers curbside pickup for all of their produce items. Check out their Facebook page for a complete list.
If you are in need of food in the Tupelo area, Eight Days of Hope can bring it to your door with their Feed Tupelo program. Sign up for services here.
Beginning Monday, March 23rd, most if not all area school districts including but not limited to Tupelo Public School District, Lee County School District, Alcorn County School District, New Albany School District, Union County School District, Nettleton School District, and Monroe County School District. You can read the MDE’s complete list and meal pickup locations here.
Parents, welcome to homeschooling! Check out your school district’s online resources below. We will add to this list as more resources are made available.
Union County Schools is conducting a survey to determine the needs of students to get access to online learning. Find it here.
Hatley Schools will be giving out instructional practice packets on Wednesday, March 25th from 10:30 to 5:30. Please pull up next to the cafeteria to pick up your child’s packet. Get more info here.
This episode covers the none other than the Tiger King! Why on earth did I get sucked into this new show on Netflix? My grandmother gets a mention and Jerry the King Lawler!
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This episode is sponsored by
· Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Mississippi Today reporters have listened closely to your questions as they monitor Mississippi’s coronavirus developments.
What executive orders has the governor issued?
Since the coronavirus pandemic began, Gov. Tate Reeves has issued a number of executive orders regulating health and public gatherings to slow the spread of the virus. Read through his executive orders here.
These sites only screen and test symptomatic people, which means they require that you have symptoms of COVID-19 in order to be tested: a fever of 100.4 or greater and severe cough or chest pain. They also ask that you call ahead before showing up.
University of Mississippi Medical Center and Mississippi State Department of Health launched drive-up testing tents at the Mississippi Fairgrounds this week. Patients must go through the new Cspire health mobile app or use the telehealth phone line to be screened before getting a testing appointment. Details are here.
How many hospital beds does Mississippi have available?
Mississippi has 12,618 hospital beds, with about 10,000 not including psychiatric hospital beds, and of those, a little more than 800 devoted to ICU care. As of April 12, at least 552 people have been hospitalized. This is not representative of all confirmed COVID-19 cases in the state, however, and excludes 1,039 cases that are still under investigation. See updated hospitalizations rates at the health department’s website.
We update our county case map every morning, which also has toggle maps for number of cases per county/per-capita rates per county and a line chart with total number of cases and new cases.
How will MS high rates of obesity and heart disease affect the transmission and treatment of COVID?
Underlying health conditions make a person at greater risk for severe illness if they contract the disease. Research estimates that 44 percent of the state’s population is at higher risk of illness if they contract COVID due to age or health conditions. Read more here.
Treating more cases due to underlying health conditions could put a strain on the health care system’s ability to treat everyone that becomes ill, especially in rural areas without access to hospitals.
How many counties don’t have hospitals? What are the state’s plans for those areas?
At least eight counties do not have a hospital and 49 counties do not currently have ICU beds. There are about three ICU beds for every 10,000 Mississippian. Almost half of the state’s rural hospitals — 31 total — are at risk of closing.
Can we get a report on how many tests have been completed in each county?
No. The state health department has not released the number of tests per county, nor the number of tests run by commercial labs. Prior to March 28, MSDH reported only the positive results from those private tests, as well as all tests that the state ran, which did not allow us to accurately calculate the number of cases per tests.
As of March 28, the state health department pulled the total test count from their website, because it did not reflect an accurate state testing picture. Most other states require commercial labs to report both positive and negative results to the state in order to capture all tests in the state and reflect testing statewide.
Update: on March 30, MSDH returned to reporting testing numbers from MSDH lab only: Testing Totals MSDH Public Health Laboratory (MPHL) testing totals as of 6 p.m., March 29, 2020. These totals are for tests performed at the MPHL only. Note: We still don’t know commercial lab test numbers other than those with positive tests.
Total individuals tested: 3,836
Total positive individuals: 326
What surveillance testing is being done in known cases?
Before the last week of March, the state health department said it did not have the resources to do intense surveillance around each case, though cases were investigated by the department. But on Thursday March 26, officials said they launched a strategy to “aggressively” target known cases’ potential community spread. Part of that strategy involves identifying second-tier exposures, like friends, family and co-workers, to isolate that spread through quarantine measures and test where appropriate.
Due to a nationwide choke of the medical supply chain, supplies such as testing materials and personal protective equipment, or PPE, have been and continue to be scarce. The state health lab, as well as commercial labs and now University of Mississippi Medical Center that launched testing, only test symptomatic people to preserve supplies and often prioritize tests for hospitalized patients to triage care for sick people. Read more about the health department’s recently launched surveillance strategy here.
Can a 1099 employee apply for unemployment?
Usually, 1099 employees — independent contractors, self employed or freelancers — are not eligible for unemployment, but new federal legislation expands benefits to eligible gig workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Can I get unemployment because employer reduced my work hours because of COVID-19?
Yes, you may be eligible for partial unemployment. A portion of your continued earnings would be deducted from your weekly benefit amount.
What if you work two jobs and hours have been cut?
You may be eligible for partial unemployment.
I had to quit my job due to being 62 and COPD. Can I file for unemployment?
Normally, people who quit their jobs are not eligible for unemployment, but new federal legislation expands benefits to people who quit as a “direct result of COVID-19” during the pandemic.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Good morning, Tupelo and beyond. It’s Monday, March 30th and it’s the 90th day of the year.
On this day in history in 240 BC, the 1st recorded perihelion passage of Haile’s comet was observed. In 1856, Russia signed the Treaty of Paris ending the Crimean War and 112 years later, the U.S. bought Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million in 1867. The Dalai Lama fled China for India in 1959. Miles Davis released his iconic album Bitches Brew in 1970. Two years later in 1972, Northern Ireland’s Government and Parliament were dissolved and British rule began.
Here’s your #MondayMotivation quote of the day.
”Hope enables us to walk, while fear leaves us immobilized. Fear is all about what we can’t do or what others might do to us.”
Michelle Lynn Brown
Instead of sharing events, we’re now sharing resources to help you get through #socialdistancing. These resources will range from where to find free meals for your children through the week to virtual museum tours, learning resources, and other activities to do at home with the family. If you have any resources not listed that you would like to share with #OurTupelo drop your links in the comment section of this post.
Find the latest local Covid-19 updates directly from the Mississippi State Department of Health right here on their website.
Click the following links to read Mayor Shelton’s Executive Orders on the Emergency Proclamation declared by the Mayor and the City of Tupelo on Saturday, March 21, 2020.
Need to be tested for coronavirus? These clinics offer testing. All clinics are using curbside services or bringing symptomatic patients into an isolated area of the clinic to protect them and other patients. *If you are a clinic owner offering testing and do not see your clinic listed below, send us a private Facebook message to give us your info.
East Main Family Medical Clinic–curbside testing and isolation rooms for patients who need to come inside for treatment.
Friendship Medical Clinics–Tupelo, Ecru, and New Albany locations have curbside testing available. Stay in car at all times, call your clinic when you’re in line for registration.
Medplus Tupelo and Fulton locations offer curbside coronavirus testing. Check-in online at medpluscares.com and check cough and fever as your symptoms to get registered for testing. Wait for the clinic to call you to provide testing time.
Senior Hours at Local Grocery Stores
Todd’s Big Star’s Seniors Only Shopping Hours are on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 am – 12 pm. Regular shopping hours will resume from 12 pm – 8 pm. Todd’s will follow these new hours every Tuesday and Thursday while following normal business hours of 7 am – 8 pm on Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat, and Sun. Deli is open for takeout.
Food Giant of North Mississippi’s Senior Hour will be daily during the first hour they are open at 7 am.
Dollar General also offers its first hour of business to seniors and those at a higher risk of serious complications from coronavirus. Most locations open at 8 am, some open at 7 am. Check with your location to confirm their hours.
Cockrell Banana offers curbside pickup for all of their produce items. Check out their Facebook page for a complete list.
If you are in need of food in the Tupelo area, Eight Days of Hope can bring it to your door with their Feed Tupelo program. Sign up for services here.
Beginning Monday, March 23rd, most if not all area school districts including but not limited to Tupelo Public School District, Lee County School District, Alcorn County School District, New Albany School District, Union County School District, Nettleton School District, and Monroe County School District. You can read the MDE’s complete list and meal pickup locations here.
Parents, welcome to homeschooling! Check out your school district’s online resources below. We will add to this list as more resources are made available.
Union County Schools is conducting a survey to determine the needs of students to get access to online learning. Find it here.
Hatley Schools will be giving out instructional practice packets on Wednesday, March 25th from 10:30 to 5:30. Please pull up next to the cafeteria to pick up your child’s packet. Get more info here.
Friends, I was just thinking back when we were kids — “we” being all us brothers and a couple of cousins. We were known to come up here and play in the old cemetery! Did yall ever do that?
Now, mostly we did this during the day, because … well … just because! One time, we were up there playing around, and somebody decided to ring the old bell!
Well it got to be a competition as to who could ring it the loudest! Everything was fine and dandy until we heard someone coming up the road! It was Paw Paw Will! He came flying up in his old pickup! (Well, he wasn’t exactly flying in a ’48 Ford, but he was going pretty fast!)
He roared into the driveway and jumped out before the dust could settle, and said, “Who has been ringing that bell?!”
Well, when nobody said anything, he told us to line up, and then he broke off a switch and whipped every boy there!
Then he said, “Y’all know why I whipped you?”
Then he went on to explain, “That bell in earlier times was used to gather people in case of emergency! If someone rang the bell, then everybody dropped what they were doing and ran to see what the problem was! It might be somebody had died and they needed to dig a grave! Or someone could be hurt real bad and need help!”
So I raised my hand, and he said, “What do you want?”
I asked him, “Did you say if somebody was hurting real bad they could ring the bell?”
He said, “Yes. Why?”
Well I told him I was still hurting from that whipping and I was going to ring that bell!
I got another whipping! Wasn’t too bad, though! He couldn’t do it! He was laughing so hard!
So when you’re at a cemetery, and see an old bell, that don’t mean you have to ring it!
TUPELO- Due to public uncooperation during the COVID-19 pandemic, the local government cracks down on removing anything that encourages social proximity. The main culprit? Home decorations that say the word “gather.”
Tupelo officials are going door-to-door to search homes for any “gather” signs. Synonyms such as congregate, convene, or muster are also forbidden.
Tupelo housewife Karen Thompson parted with her slab of wood that had the word painted on it.
“That was going to be a family heirloom,” she said. “What’s next? Are they going to take away my ‘live, laugh, love’ sign?”
Police officer Alex Spencer explained the reasoning behind it.
“People can be so gullible. All it takes is one person to be influenced by sighting the word, and then next thing you know they’re hosting a gathering and ten people are infected,” he said.
According to Spencer, citizens are not reacting well to the new law.
“Someone demanded to speak to my manager after I confiscated his ‘muster’ throw pillow,” he said.
An anonymous source stated, “I would very much like to have my muster pillow back.”
Some are even going so far as to sign a petition to free the “gather” signs. So far it has not been disclosed where the decorations are being held, but it is very clear that they are sorely missed.
