Chickasaw County leaders holding regular meetings to combat coronavirus

HOUSTON, Miss. (WCBI) – As daily numbers come in for coronavirus cases across the state, there are a few Northeast Mississippi counties that have seen spikes in their numbers.

So far there have been 51 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Chickasaw County. But even before the numbers started going up, leaders of area towns and cities were sitting in on regular conference calls with MEMA.

Each Tuesday and Thursday, Chickasaw County EMA Director Linda Griffin joins other EMA directors in a conference call with MEMA.

“They keep us updated on Personal Protection Equipment going out to hospitals and first responders,” said Griffin.

Mayors of Houlka and Okolona, along with the county fire coordinator were sitting in on the conference call.

After the state call, local leaders look at things they can do to help those who have tested positive for the virus and protect others.

No one is sure why the numbers for Chickasaw County have spiked, but local leaders said the numbers can be misleading. They also believed the regular conference calls are making a difference.

“That is from day one until now, a lot of those 51 have perhaps already gotten over it and are ok, but numbers are still up there, so it’s not really a true accurate number in my opinion,” said Houlka Mayor Jimmy Kelly.

“We wanted to act as a county, one body rather than, what Okolona,is doing, Houston, Woodland, is doing, so this gave us an opportunity to be one body,” said Okolona Mayor Sherman Carouthers.

“I don’t know if there’s any way to know exactly how many people have it, so I would caution everybody to pretend everybody has it, guard themselves and stay diligent,” said Chickasaw County Fire Coordinator Jonathan Blankenship.

Chickasaw County leaders believe the public’s cooperation will continue. That’s why they will keep emphasizing simple, common-sense steps that can help keep everybody safe.