The COVID-19 virus has definitely proven to be a nightmare worldwide over the past several weeks. People are sadly dying due to the illness, businesses and industries are beginning to suffer, many schools and sports are shut down, and ultimately there is a widespread panic about the pandemic.
Fortunately, there have not been any confirmed cases of the virus in Jasper County of the already 21 presumptive cases in Mississippi, according to the Mississippi Department of Health as of Tuesday night; however, it is lingering nearby, as close as Hinds County. The virus will likely rear its ugly face in the area at some point.
That is why area officials, law enforcement authorities, and representatives from Jones College gathered Tuesday night at the Bay Springs City Council meeting. They grouped together to help bring and learn information about the virus and to help prevent a significant spread of the virus in the area.
JC President Dr. Jesse Smith and two colleagues, Science Department Chair Eric Shows and Associate Degree Nursing Director Erin Knight, were invited to share valuable information at the meeting. Colleges like Jones and other schools, including public elementary and high school districts, have had to make dire decisions over the past days to shut down or extend Spring Break vacations. Smith said Jones College started preparing as soon as the virus was mentioned as a problem weeks ago with its large base of close-knitted student population. He and his colleagues were eager to share the ropes of what they had learned over the past few weeks with the city of Bay Springs to help reduce the spread of the virus as well as policy procedures the college faced.
“Minimize and mitigate the spread of it. There are some tried and true techniques that can be put into place and can have an impact. It is a very serious time,” Smith said.
“I would set policies in place that follow the guidelines that limit social gatherings to certain sizes. I know a lot of people are entrepreneurs and have their own businesses. Encourage them, particularly restaurants, to be a little bit more innovative and let people come pick it up.”
JC announced Tuesday that in order to maximize social distancing and to slow the transmission of the virus, all classes at Jones College and the Jones College County Centers (Advanced Technology Center, Clarke, Greene, Jasper, and Wayne) are canceled for March 23 - 27, the week that students were scheduled to return from Spring Break. Beginning Monday, March 30 and until further notice, the college will hold all classes and related coursework online. Smith indicated Tuesday night at the meeting in Bay Springs there are certain classes that cannot be held online, but those classes will be reduced to very small groups of students.
Shows, during the meeting, further explained COVID-19 to Bay Springs Mayor J.E. Smith, the Board of Aldermen, and others at the meeting.
“Everybody has heard about the Coronavirus over the past few weeks. Coronaviruses as a viral group are not new. We’ve known about Coronaviruses since the 60s, and there are a certain number of Coronaviruses that circulate each year that are known to cause the common cold. What makes this Coronavirus unique is that is it a brand new Coronavirus that’s never been in the human population before. That means nobody is immune. That also means there is no vaccine; we have no specific drugs that are currently approved that work against this virus, which means everybody is a potential host on this whole planet. That is why we are seeing such a rapid spread. We don’t have any pockets that are particularly immune to it. Everybody is vulnerable to it.
“It spreads via respiratory route – coughing, sneezing – which is a really good way for a virus to spread. You can be in close proximity, have a cough or a sneeze, and then get that on your hands, and in your eyes, or mouth, or nose or mucus membranes, and you are potentially infected. It’s a really good way to transmit the virus. Like I said, it’s a new virus, nobody has immunity to it, so the whole population is particularly vulnerable. That’s why you are see it spreading from one country, to a continent, to across the globe because literally nobody has seen this virus before, so we are all vulnerable to it. That’s why it has rapidly progressed, and we have to do everything we can to prevent that spread. We don’t have the typical arsenal of drugs or vaccines that we will have. Give us a year or two, and we will be much better prepared on the vaccine side and drug side, but right now the best thing we can do is bring together the measures that you’ve heard about in the news – wash your hands, cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze, preferably with your elbow or tissue, and limit your exposure of outside activities. Cut out all non-essential travels, gatherings, and limit the time you spend outside your home with other people. That really, really is key. It’s going to take all of us doing that. If I do it and you don’t, that defeats the purpose. It’s really a collective effort for all of us to do it.”
The city board heard from several others attending the meeting as well, including a local funeral home that has been advised by the National Funeral Home Board to limit funerals to very small private groups. East Jasper School District Board President Bobby Bender and another board member also attended the meeting to seek advice and to render concerns as well.
The Bay Springs Board of Aldermen and Mayor J.E. Smith considered what was presented by the JC officials and other statewide governing officials and have made the following decisions about the city of Bay Springs to this date:
•The city building will not be rented until further notice.
•BayFest 2020 has been canceled. “We are going to intend to cancel BayFest this year because of this. We just can’t take the chance. It’s only two months from now. We can’t take the chance of having that many people together,” said Mayor Smith.
•All city parks are closed to the public until further notice. The children’s park at Neco parking lot will be locked, and the Bay Springs Police Department will enforce the closings.
•City of Bay Springs employees have been asked to keep distance from the general public. “As far as our employees, I’ve asked them to minimize contact with others when they are picking up trash and other things like that,” said City Maintenance Supervisor Donald Brown.
•The city board also approved a proclamation of existence of a local emergency. Alderman Mike Lucas, who is also the Jasper County Emergency Management director, said this could be implemented for 30 days and then would be reviewed.
Other decisions throughout Jasper County about the virus situation early this week include:
•On Monday the Jasper County Board of Supervisors followed Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves proclamation for a statewide emergency proclamation with a county emergency proclamation.
•According to Jasper County Emergency Management Deputy and Volunteer Fire Coordinator Hudson Jenkins, all volunteer fire departments in the county and EMS responders have been limited to only certain emergency calls, per a decision made by him and Emergency Management Director Mike Lucas. Local volunteer emergency responders will only be able to respond to trauma, cardiac arrest and respiratory emergencies, vehicle accidents, and fires in progress. Only one to two responders will be allowed in a residence during emergencies. All emergency calls will be screened through dispatch at the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office.
“The decision was made to ensure the safety of volunteer first responders,” said Jenkins.
•Both public school districts in the county, East Jasper and West Jasper, as well as Sylva-Bay Academy, have extended Spring Break through March 20. The Mississippi Department of Education is expected to meet with local education superintendents Thursday to make decisions about schools going forward in the future.
•All MHSAA sports activities have been shut down until further notice. A MHSAA press release stated: “Effective immediately, March 16, all MHSAA interscholastic sports and fine-arts activities competition and practice is suspended through March 29 and until further notice. This suspension applies whether or not a school is open or closed during this timeline.
“Contingency plans for continuing regular-season competition and return to play are being formulated and will be announced and implemented by the MHSAA at the appropriate time(s). Each spring fine-arts activity and sports championship event is being reviewed and actions will be taken with the possibility of new dates and venue sites. A decision to continue spring contests and activities will be made as soon as possible in the best interests of the student-athletes, coaches, administrators and communities.”