As COVID-19 Surges Back to Winter Levels, Gov. Reeves Visits Aspen and Orlando
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves grinned in front of a maskless crowd in Orlando, Fla., yesterday evening. Orange County Republican Executive Committee Chairman Charles Hart had just introduced him as “a guy who told the Democrats in his state to go stuff it” when it comes to voting rights.
The governor’s Orlando visit came exactly one month after Mississippi hit its lowest seven-day average for new COVID-19 cases since April 2020. But the Delta variant, coupled with low vaccination numbers, has since caused the pandemic to surge to levels not seen in the Magnolia State since January. The seven-day average for new cases is now up 752% since June 22, 2021.
In a month, the number of Mississippians hospitalized for COVID-19 has climbed 403%, while the number of patients on ventilators on ventilators is up 550%. But even as Mississippi’s weary public health officials and health care workers were busy fighting the pandemic’s latest wave back home, Gov. Tate Reeves was 700 miles away, regaling a partisan group with tales of his political triumphs.
‘This Is An Emergency’
In Florida, which now accounts for about a quarter of all new cases nationwide, the governor grinned Thursday as the maskless crowd whooped and cheered. Orange County Republican Executive Committee Chairman Charles Hart had just introduced him as “a guy who told the Democrats in his state to go stuff it” when they called for making voting easier in the Magnolia State.
Read more: https://www.mississippifreepress.org/14010/as-covid-19-surges-back-to-winter-levels-gov-reeves-visits-aspen-and-orlando/