Connect with us
[the_ad_placement id="manual-placement"] [the_ad_placement id="obituaries"]

News

Reeves to reopen “95 percent” of Mississippi industries Monday, including salons, barbershops and gyms

Published

on

Gov. Tate Reeves during April 22 news conference. (Photo via video screen grab)

Gov. Tate Reeves implored Mississippians not to listen to COVID-19 naysayers as he opened his comments in his Facebook live news conference Friday.

“Do not listen to the voices in your life who tell you there’s no danger,” he said.

Reeves announced he will extend his safer-at-home order for two additional weeks; however, the governor also said he will be reopening “95%” of Mississippi’s businesses Monday, calling his strategy for keeping businesses closed “not sustainable.” Those businesses include salons, barbershops and gyms, which will all be placed under strict health rules.

“We cannot shut everything down until there is no more risk,” Reeves said.

Reeves will be issuing a new executive order shortly. He indicated his confidence in the state’s health care system, saying it “is as prepared as it can be.”

The governor’s concern now is the state’s and the nation’s impending economic collapse.

“This week, we reached the highest unemployment rate since the Great Depression,” Reeves said. The nation’s unemployment rate for April, announced Friday morning, was 14.7%.

Pushing for shutdowns with no end in sight will do more harm than good, the governor indicated.

“We’re headed to the point where the cure could be worse than the disease,” Reeves said.

Still, as he pointed out at the start of his comments, “We are not back to normal because our enemy is still in our midst.”

“I am asking you, I am begging you to exercise personal responsibility,” Reeves said. Using proper hygiene and observing social distancing guidelines are critical to minimize the spread of the virus.

See a typo? Report it here.