COVID-19 April 2 Update

MDES interview with Jackie Turner

• As we have been telling you, we plan to try to answer all of your questions regarding unemployment claims and benefits by interviewing Jackie Turner today. Ms. Turner is the executive director of MDES, and she has graciously agreed to meet with us to answer your questions.
• We plan to tape that interview this afternoon, and it should be on our Facebook page tomorrow morning.
• This interview will be our daily video update for tomorrow, so we invite you to check it out.

Shelter-in-place order

• As you can imagine, the top item of discussion today is the shelter-in-place order entered by the Governor yesterday.
• I have had numerous phone calls asking me:
  • if golf courses can remain open
  • if construction companies can continue to work
  • if hardware stores can remain open
  • if car dealerships can remain open
  • if churches can meet with “drive-in” services.
  • And a host of other examples
• Yesterday we summarized what the executive order does and does not do. I invite you to either read yesterday’s update or watch the video we posted to better understand the shelter-in-place order.
• I will also point you to the update we did on Tuesday, which summarized the Lauderdale County order (which is virtually the same) and the update we did on March 25, which also discussed the original executive order. All three of these updates – March 25, March 31, and April 1 – will give you a good idea of what is covered and what is not under the shelter-in-place order, so I will not reiterate all that here now.

The purpose of the shelter-in-place order

• MY paramount concern RIGHT NOW IS TO PROTECT THE CITIZENS OF OUR STATE FROM the spread of the virus.
• Throughout this crisis, we have been looking to the medical professionals to tell us what to do.
• So I had a very candid conversation on yesterday with Dr. LouAnn Woodward of UMMC and Dr. Thomas Dobbs of the Department of Health.
• I asked them to put aside any economic or political concerns and just tell me their honest opinion as a medical doctor what they think is the best thing we can do to protect our citizens.
• They both said the time has come for a shelter-in-place order. This was enough to convince me that this is the right step for this time.
• Sadly, they tell us that more people are going to contract this virus and that some will die. We want to do everything within our power to prevent that from happening.
• There is no dispute that ventilators and ICU beds are NECESSARY to treat those who become severely ill.
• The great fear of our medical professionals is that there could be a massive outbreak, in which a large number of people get sick in a short period of time. If that happens, the number of severely ill patients requiring ventilators and beds could overwhelm the supply.
• Fortunately, at this point, we are not aware of any place in the state where there is an unmet need for either a ventilator or a bed, and we want to keep it that way.
• To save lives, WE MUST LIMIT THE SPREAD OF THE VIRUS.
• We want everyone who needs a ventilator or a bed has to have one.
• If we can slow down the spread of the virus, then the system will not become overwhelmed by a sudden outbreak and, hopefully, everyone who needs a ventilator or a bed will have one and lives will be saved.
• I hope you now understand why the shelter-in-place order is important.

What you can do

• It is clear that the spirit of the order is that people SHOULD avoid contact with others to prevent the spread OF THE VIRUS.
• When we realize that how we respond to this order could determine whether someone lives or dies, it seems the best approach is to adopt of mindset of how can WE COMPLY WITH THE ORDER rather than HOW CAN WE GET AROUND IT.
• If we adopt this mindset, then it will better help us answer the questions we have about of what is permissible and what is not.
• With that being said, I will be glad to try to answer any questions you may have about the order and how to comply with it.

Update on number of cases.

• 104 new cases reported yesterday.
• Total cases statewide now number 1177.
• Unfortunately, we now have 26 deaths.

Call if you need help.

• We have had phone calls to our office forwarded to our staff. If you need any help at all, please call us at 601-359-3300.
• We have also set up an email address for you to ask questions or seek help. That address is [email protected].