Flaggs waiting on governor’s announcement to ease COVID-19 restrictions

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Vicksburg’s response to COVID-19 dominated today’s meeting of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen.

“Let’s start by thanking the first liners, first responders, and those all who are in the health-care field,” said Mayor George Flaggs Jr.

Flaggs pointed out that while a number of positive cases are reported for Warren County, he is unaware of cases within the city limits. He said he had a call with local health-care providers to discuss the rate of hospitalization, recovery and testing.

“When you look at the numbers, there was a spike last Friday,” Flaggs said. “Saturday and Sunday, the numbers came down. For the most part, our employees and the public are doing a great job following the protocol.”

The federal government is considering reimbursing cities and states for revenue loss due to the pandemic, Flaggs said. The mayor is dealing with a considerable loss of city revenue and announced options of city employee layoffs last week. Under the CARES Act, the $1.25 billion allocated to Mississippi is not be used for the loss of government revenue.

“It is used service loss and supplies or for protection to provide testing or some other thing,” Flaggs said.

The mayor said he hopes to announce further re-opening of businesses Tuesday at noon, but he is waiting for the governor to make a statement.

“I have a phase-in plan that is just a guide,” Flaggs said. “We may have to alter that plan and include some folks based on the governor.”

Aldermen Michael Mayfield and Alex Monsour both had encouraging words for Vicksburg residents.

“We appreciate your due diligence up ‘til this point,” Mayfield said, and Monsour added, “I want to thank our first responders and medical officials.”

During today’s meeting, the mayor also recognized several city employee anniversaries:

• 10 years of service: Gas Department
  • Nikki Hunter
• 25 years of service: Fire Department
  • Richard Wilson
  • Sammy Brocato
  • John Brewer
  • Craig Danczyk
  • Daryl Collins
  • Joe Graham

The next meeting of the Vicksburg Board of Mayor and Aldermen will be May 8, at 10 a.m.