By WLBT Digital | March 8, 2021 at 3:01 PM CST – Updated March 8 at 5:10 PM
JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – The Mississippi Department of Health discussed the progress the state has made approaching the one-year-anniversary of its first COVID-19 case.
On March 11, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. Subsequently, Mississippi reported the first case of the virus on the same day.
After nearly a year battling against this deadly disease, Mississippi has begun to see a lower numbers of cases reported over the last few weeks, according to State Epidemiologist Dr. Paul Byers.
Byers states that indicators such as the number of hospitalizations and amount of ventilators used are “encouraging and promising.”
Vaccinations, wearing masks, and social distancing have played a critical role in the number of cases significantly dropping from just a year ago, said State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs. He believes that there is still “a long way to go but sees the light at the end of the tunnel.”
According to Senior Deputy and Director of Health Protection Jim Craig, Mississippi has seen nearly a million individuals tested between December 30 and March 8.
When asked how they would describe the last year, they all echoed the same sentiments. The deaths in Miss. and over the country have been terrible, but seeing people trying to make a difference in the pandemic has been inspiring to watch, said Dobbs, Myers, and Craig.
Copyright 2021 WLBT. All rights reserved.