Coronavirus USA: Republican Governor Backtracks On Reopening State After Surge In Cases, Deaths

Gov. Tate Reeves of Mississippi has halted plans to reopen his state following a new surge in COVID-19 cases and deaths. Reeves, a Republican, said that he would wait at least through the weekend before moving forward with plans to allow businesses and institutions to open back up.

“Things can change quickly,” Reeves said in his announcement on Friday. “We have to stay flexible. Today, I was prepared to announce further reopenings. That was the plan and I was excited to get more of our people back to work. This was a large enough change to make me take a step back… and I have come to the conclusion that I must hold on for now.”

Reeves on Sunday spoke with Fox News anchor Chris Wallace, who asked him about the steps taken to reopen Mississippi's economy despite the state not meeting White House guidelines to reopen after two weeks of declining cases. Wallace referenced how the number of cases spiked from 183 on Monday to well over 200 throughout the week.

Reeves said that “sometimes the models are just different for different stats" and that the "hospital system is not stressed."

“You have to understand that Mississippi is different than New York and Mississippi is different than New Jersey,” Reeves said. “What we have seen is for the last 35 to 40 days, we’ve been between 200 and 300 cases without a spike."

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R) to Chris Wallace on why his state is forging ahead with plans to reopen even though it hasn't met the federal criteria of a 14-day decline in new Covid cases: "We believe that that particular gating criteria just doesn't work in states like ours." pic.twitter.com/Kcyw8wH8Vh
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 3, 2020

Reeves on Monday had moved Mississippi from a “stay at home” plan to a “safer at home” plan on Monday. This plan called for those more vulnerable to infection to remain indoors while anyone else could be free to go out again while maintaining social distance practices and not gathering in groups of 10 or more. Businesses like movie theaters, gyms, and salons chose to remain closed despite this allowance.

The Health Department reported 397 new cases of coronavirus and 20 new deaths on Friday, the highest single-day increases in both since the start of the outbreak. This brought the state’s total to 7,212 confirmed cases and 281 deaths.

“The increase was a large enough change to make me take a step back, reexamine things and must hold on and reconsider at least over the weekend,” Reeves explained Friday. “Not to recklessly put people in harm’s way.”