NATCHEZ, Miss. –City aldermen put off a decision Tuesday on whether to authorize a COVID compliance officer to roam local businesses to help ensure masks are being worn and other measures are followed to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Adams County supervisors approved the hiring of such an officer Monday with city and county officials equally sharing the costs of paying the person.
While Natchez Mayor Dan Gibson noted the “compliance safety officer” would only be “educating and encouraging everyone in our community to do the right thing,” some aldermen said this is an unnecessary position.
In asking county supervisors Monday to approve the assignment of a COVID patrol officer, Adams County Emergency Management Director Brad Bradford said the person would not be authorized to issue tickets to violators of the mask law. He would simply tell business managers of the infractions and report them to Bradford, the Adams County Sheriff’s Office, or the Natchez Police Department.
Natchez and Adams County since July have been under a locally imposed requirement for people to wear face coverings in public places where they congregate close together. Gov. Tate Reeves has in recent weeks phased-in mandates that are more restrictive for selected counties with COVID surges.
In addition to the state masking requirement in Adams and 53 other Mississippi counties, the governor is limiting to 10 the number of people for inside public or private gatherings where they can’t socially distance. The limit is 50 for outside get-togethers.
Violators of the various COVID restrictions and mandates can be fined up to $500, according to state law.
The state-imposed COVID regulations are set to expire Friday unless the governor extends them.
The Mississippi Department of Health on Tuesday reported a spike of 69 Adams County residents newly confirmed to be infected by the coronavirus since Dec. 1. The respiratory disease has killed 52 local residents since March. Of the 1,541 Adams County residents who’ve been diagnosed in the past nine months, 156 on Monday were classified as “active” COVID cases, according to Bradford. That’s up from 88 two weeks ago.
At Tuesday’s meeting of the Board of Aldermen, Gibson noted how overwhelmed Merit Health Natchez and its exhausted staff have been with COVID patients since March. State Department of Health data Tuesday showed the hospital had 24 COVID patients, an increase from the 10 patients two weeks ago. The number of seriously ill coronavirus patients was seven in the hospital’s ICU, up from the four patients two weeks ago.
“We’ve got to do something to curb the numbers,” Bradford said as he recommended the hiring of the compliance officer.
Bradford is managing Natchez-Adams County’s response to the public health crisis.
In directing people to wear masks in public and not congregate close together, local officials said they’re trying to slow the virus spread and avoid the business closures other localities have ordered.
“We’re trying to keep our businesses from shutting down,” Bradford said.
The COVID compliance officer is to be paid $3,600 for four months on the job, with the county and city boards equally splitting the expenses.
However, Alderman Valencia Hall questioned how effective one person can be in making random visits to various businesses to ensure the COVID-prevention measures are being followed, and Alderman Billie Joe Frazier noted people “don’t want the government to dictate” to them.
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