COVID-19 cases spike in Warren County; Flaggs to call for new restrictions Friday

Vicksburg Mayor George Flaggs, Jr. will announce an additional COVID-19 restriction for Vicksburg during a news conference at 4 p.m. Friday, Dec. 4, in the Robert M. Walker Building Board Room.

The news conference, originally scheduled for 2 p.m. Monday, Dec. 7, was rescheduled for Friday following the announcement of Vicksburg and Warren County’s one-day total of 46 new COVID-19 cases and one death.

“Due to one of our largest increases in reported COVID-19 cases, I plan to move forward with an additional restriction in Vicksburg immediately,” Flaggs said in a news release. “I have also canceled our First Friday Block Party in downtown Vicksburg scheduled for Friday night. This decision, and every decision, I’ve made since the beginning of this pandemic has been geared toward saving lives and mitigating the spread of this virus.”

In addition to the 46 new cases reported Friday, the state also reported one additional virus-related death in Warren County, pushing the total number of deaths to 59. In the past two weeks, Warren County has reported 204 new cases of COVID-19, and a ratio of 418.26 cases per 100,000 residents. The State has said that any county that has more than 200 cases in a 14-day period and a ratio of more than 500 cases per 100,000 residents could see additional restrictions from the State. In the past week, Vicksburg and Warren County have seen more than 20 new cases per day; a level not seen since mid-August. The current one-day record for new cases in Vicksburg and Warren County occurred Aug. 8, when 56 cases were reported.