COVID-19
Dobbs issues statewide order to delay elective surgeries
Mississippi hospitals are under a statewide order to postpone any non-urgent surgeries and procedures requiring hospitalization.
In an alert issued Friday, the Mississippi State Health Department ordered hospitals to delay any elective procedures requiring an overnight stay until after July 20.
The order was issued by State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs, who is also the executive director of MSDH.
The order came in the wake of record numbers of Mississippians hospitalized because of COVID-19. Friday, MSDH reported that more than 1,000 people were hospitalized because of the virus in the state, including 711 with confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 270 with suspected cases.
Mississippi has also seen record number of new cases reported. Since the beginning of July, the state has seen 7,375 new cases, 21% of all the cumulative cases reported since March 11 when the first COVID-19 infection was confirmed.
MSDH has been warning for weeks that the rising cases are threatening to overwhelm the state’s health care system. In the past week, the warning has become acute, with the state’s five largest hospitals reporting no available ICU beds Thursday.
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