ICU beds fill up as COVID-19 cases surge across the state

State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs says that within two weeks, Mississippi’s Hospital System will be ‘thoroughly overwhelmed.’

On Monday, 943 people were hospitalized in the state with confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 293 people were battling the virus in intensive care.

Governor Tate Reeves is requiring people to wear masks in public in 23 of the 82 counties.

The executive order is an expansion of a past order that required mask-wearing in 13 counties.

Reeves has refused to impose a statewide mask requirement. He says he will only mandate mask-wearing in counties that have seen the highest increases in new coronavirus cases.