LEMA reacts to nearly a year into pandemic

Nearly a year into the pandemic, COVID-19 cases in Mississippi have almost reached the peak of 300,000 with over 6,000 deaths. Lauderdale Emergency Management Agency Director Odie Barrett says despite these high numbers, cases are lowering by the week in Lauderdale County.

“We’re averaging about six cases per day in Lauderdale County this past week. Statewide, last year we only had 5 cases and now we are looking at a downward trend having 6 cases per day,” said Barrett.

With the mask mandate still enforced in some cities such as Meridian, Barrett says to stay cautious even though numbers are not skyrocketing anymore.

“...that didn’t mean that we no longer have to be cautious and not go around with a mask on when we need to," said Barrett. "That just goes back to personal responsibility. If you’re sick you don’t need to be out and about.”

During the pandemic, the Lauderdale Emergency Management Agency has partnered with several companies to keep down the spread of COVID-19 by providing personal protective equipment over the course of one year.

“We came together and set up mask distribution sites and were able to get over 100,000 masks out to the public," said Barrett. "That was something we thought we would never be involved in, but for the past year, we’ve been doing things of getting PPE out to facilities or the general public itself.”

Barrett says looking back over the pandemic, we’ve come a milestone with being able to administer three options of a vaccine- Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson.

“...averaging about 1,200 doses a day between the two shots and hopefully in a short time coming we’ll have at least one more shot that we can have set up,” said Barrett.