Just an hour south of Tupelo lies Mississippi State University, nestled near the town of Starkville, or what others call the \u201cGolden Triangle.\u201d David Buys, an assistant professor in the Department of Health at MSU, has watched the coronavirus pandemic escalate since March. He says that the rate of coronavirus cases has climbed in the last few months in his home of Mississippi. <\/p>\n
When Governor Tate Reeves began to create a stay at home order for the state, coronavirus cases were already increasing. On April 1, a statewide stay at home order was enforced to decrease contamination, except for businesses and services deemed essential, which were many. Gov. Reeves enforced a mask mandate in May, which required everyone to wear a face mask in public when social distancing was not possible. <\/p>\n
But many have said that Reeves was late to enforce policies, and he has relaxed his mandates too soon. Reeves lifted the mask mandate in September, which didn\u2019t help the new onslaught of cases that came in the Fall. Specifically, the race data has shown that coronavirus cases have increased among white communities, while the amount of cases has decreased among black communities. <\/p>\n
Buys, the professor from MSU, says that the messaging from the state government could be one of the reasons that cases have increased. According to data published in November, this is the first time since June that the white community has exceeded the black community in coronavirus cases. Buys said this could be because of the political affiliations between white communities and the Republican government. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think the presidential campaign that has been so drawn on racial lines has emboldened white people to resist the precautions,\u201d he said. \u201cI think the federal government\u2019s response has called into question the validity of science and the recommendations that have come forth from our public health and medical experts.\u201d <\/p>\n
Governor Reeves, a friend of Donald Trump\u2019s and a first-term Republican, in March decided to wait and see how coronavirus would affect the state. He waited until April to declare stay at home orders, while local governors began restrictions as early as March 15. Reeves has continuously lifted state mandates since August and it has shown an uptick in cases. <\/p>\n
Buys says that the number of cases will increase if Reeves doesn\u2019t return the state back to a face mask mandate and create more social distancing restrictions. <\/p>\n
\u201cAfter the governor lifted the statewide mask mandate, and he has begun to implement pocket mandates depending on rates county by county. We know that people travel between counties, so they are going between counties and the public health opinion would be that the isolated mandates are not as effective as statewide mandates.\u201d <\/p>\n
Buys said that while he\u2019s noticed an increase of mask-wearing and social distancing in black communities of Mississippi, the discretion among white communities has decreased, and this could be leading to the increase. According to data released by Mississippi State University in November, the number of cases has increased much higher in the white community, up to 57,924 cases. While among African-Americans, the number of cases is about 50,535. <\/p>\n
Anecdotally, Buys said that he\u2019s noticed more white people attending schools in person, traveling out-of-state, and doing activities that are not safe according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere appear to be many more minority families that are taking advantage of virtual schooling options than those that are not.\u201d <\/p>\n
The reason for this, Buys said, could also be due to the fact that black communities were hit hard by COVID-19 at the beginning of the pandemic, so there is a large increase in social distancing in this community. While white families, who have been notoriously Republican in the state, have leaned towards the information given by Governor Reeves and President Trump, which has led to confusion. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhite folks who were maybe more likely to be Trump supporters also bought the anti-science rhetoric that was coming from that administration.\u201d <\/p>\n
As you can see here, both the rise in cases and deaths are among white residents, while the number of cases and deaths among black residents has decreased. <\/p>\n