Mississippi is heading for a title that no state would want: It is on track to overtake Florida to become the No. 1 state for…
Mississippi is heading for a title that no state would want: It is on track to overtake Florida to become the No. 1 state for new coronavirus infections per capita, according to researchers at Harvard.
The state already faces high levels of diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and obesity.
As a result, the challenges specific to the coronavirus pandemic are “layered on top of our existing challenges,” says Dr. LouAnn Woodward, who is the top executive at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.
By multiple measures, the coronavirus situation in the state will continue to worsen, Woodward tells All Things Considered.
Most of the state’s major hospitals have had challenges with capacity, particularly ICU capacity, in recent weeks, says Woodward, who is also dean of the University of Mississippi’s medical school and an emergency medicine doctor.
As of July 31, only 17% of the state’s 904 ICU beds were available, according to the state health department.
She supports a statewide mask mandate. Mississippi’s governor has imposed certain mask requirements on 37 of Mississippi’s 82 counties but has not implemented a statewide mandate.
