First Friday block party canceled

The City of Vicksburg First Friday block party scheduled for tonight has been canceled.

“[We] canceled due to the increase in COVID-19 numbers,” said Vicksburg Mayor George Flaggs Jr. “The city shouldn’t be involved in increasing the numbers.”

Flaggs also announced that he will be adding a new restriction to those already in place in Vicksburg because of the rising numbers. Friday, the Mississippi State Department of Health announced 46 new COVID-19 cases in Warren County, the third-highest one-day increase since the start of the crises in March.

“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.

“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,” the mayor added.

Flaggs is holding a live news conference today, Friday, at 4 p.m. in the Robert M. Walker Building Board Room. The event will be streamed live on the Vicksburg Daily News Facebook page.