Supervisors pass emergency order amid health concerns due to COVID-19

The Pearl River County Board of Supervisors met on Monday morning to discuss the current situation in the county in regards to concerns about the Coronavirus (COVID-19).

County Administator Adrian Lumpkin said he’s probably looked at social media more the past few days than he would normally and he shared his thoughts on what’s the public reaction to COVID-19.

“We’ve got a lot of people in this county that are saying this is all political, it’s all a media scam, it’s all hype. I don’t care what you think about Democrats, what you think about Republicans, or what you think about anybody. This aint a media event. This is a real serious event and we’ve got a lot of people that’s just taking the mindset that this is something that’s hyped up, and it’s not, and I think that’s the hardest part in how do we change people’s attitudes to say ‘Ok, this is serious, this is real, we need to do something different.’"

A discussion followed on numerous events and gathering that had occurred over the weekend where people in the county were gathering in groups as large as fifty people, which is much larger than the CDC guideline of 10 people or less per gathering.

The board expressed their thanks and deep appreciation to the many businesses who have been diligent in following the recommendations previously put in place by the U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC).

The Supervisors passed an emergency order that incorporated Executive Orders 1457, 1458, 1459, 1460, and 1461 previously entered by Governor Tate Reeves as well all proclamations or executive orders entered by President Trump, U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services, the Mississippi State Dept of Health, U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the cities of Picayune and Poplarville.