Mississippi Republican Gov. Tate Reeves delivers a televised tackle previous to signing a invoice retiring the final state flag with the Confederate battle emblem throughout a ceremony at the Governor’s Mansion in Jackson, Mississippi, on June 30, 2020. ROGELIO V. SOLIS/POOL/AFP by way of Getty Images
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves mentioned people in the state are “less scared” of COVID-19.
“When you believe that living on this earth is but a blip on the screen, then you don’t have to be so scared of things,” he mentioned.
Health companies are struggling beneath a wave of new infections in the state.
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Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves, in remarks Saturday, mentioned that people in the state had been “less scared” of COVID-19 because they consider in “eternal life,” as new infections attain file ranges and hospitalizations spike.
Reeves made the remarks to a gathering of state Republicans at a fundraiser final Thursday in Eads, reported the Daily Memphian.
“I’m often asked by some of my friends on the other side of the aisle about COVID … and why does it seem like folks in Mississippi and maybe in the Mid-South are a little less scared, shall we say,” Reeves mentioned.
“When you believe in eternal life – when you believe that living on this earth is but a blip on the screen, then you don’t have to be so scared of things,” he mentioned.
Reeves went on to say, “God also tells us to take necessary precautions. And we all have opportunities and abilities to do that and we should all do that. I encourage everyone to do so.”
Mississippi has recorded extra new COVID-19 instances per capita than another state, with round 127 new instances per 100,000, in accordance with an evaluation of knowledge by The New York Times.
The wave of infections in Mississippi has put state well being companies at breaking level, with 93% of the state’s ICU beds in use and 63% occupied by COVID-19 sufferers, in accordance with knowledge from the Department of Health and Human Services.
The state additionally has one of the lowest vaccination charges in the nation, with about 37% of the inhabitants totally vaccinated, in accordance with knowledge from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Reeves, all through the pandemic, has criticized measures to gradual the unfold of the illness launched by public well being officers and has declined to challenge a masks mandate at faculties, the place the illness is spreading quickly.
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In July, after the CDC issued new steerage for these totally vaccinated to put on a masks indoors to assist cut back transmission, Reeves instructed supporters the measure was half of a political plot.
“It reeks of political panic so as to appear they are in control,” Reeves instructed supporters, reported the Associated Press.
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