Mississippi saw a record 257 new cases of COVID-19 yesterday, bringing the official statewide total to 2,260, the Mississippi State Department of Health announced this morning. Nine deaths slightly edge out previous days in lethality, and a total of 76 Mississippians have died from COVID-19 complications so far.

Jefferson Davis County in south Mississippi reported its first four cases of COVID-19 with the results today. Issaquena County in west central Mississippi, the least populated county in the state, is now the last with no reports of the virus.

MSDH leadership says the state is on its way to the peak of the virus along with the rest of the nation. Both State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs and State Epidemiologist Dr. Paul Byers warned at recent press conferences that the next two weeks are vital in keeping the curve of new infections flattened to protect the integrity of Mississippi’s hospital systems.

Natchez Pastor: ‘I Got a Little Fight in Me’

Bishop Stanley Searcy, minister of New Hope The Vision Center Missionary Baptist Church in Natchez, joined Gov. Tate Reeves at a press conference yesterday after the Natchez Democrat reported that he had held services in his large facility last Sunday, two days after Gov. Tate Reeves’ shelter-in-place order went into effect. That order included churches as “essential” operations exempting them from closure, but the governor said at a press briefing that churches should limit any gatherings to 10 or few people.

Reeves kicked off yesterday’s address by reiterating that he did not believe his office gave him the power to close the state’s churches, some of which still planned to hold services this Easter Sunday, providing vectors for the virus to spread at a critical time in the pandemic’s growth. Reeves said in a previous press conference that he did not believe that he could constitutionally close churches, even during a pandemic.

Searcy, whose Adams County congregation still had plans to come together for worship on Easter Sunday as of earlier this week, told the press that initial warnings from state leadership not to hold a mass gathering for the upcoming holiday called to mind attacks on Christians from “radical Muslims—not all Muslims, but radical Muslims,” in Africa.

“I never thought that the day would come that I would hear from my local government to lock me up. I got a little fight in me,” Searcy said.

The Jackson Free Press reported on Searcy and his church in 2007, which started in former Ku Klux Klan headquarters.

Under Reeves’ Order, Closing Churches Is Voluntary

Gov. Reeves called Searcy this week, and assured him that there would be no physical enforcement of the gathering ban to churches, worshipers and religious leaders who refused to abide by it.

“You didn’t ask me to say this, but I want to thank you—when all of these other governors were saying ‘martial law,’ and you stood up and said ‘We’re not China,’” Searcy told the governor. In light of Reeves’ moderation, the bishop agreed publicly to cancel Easter services in light of the enormous danger presented by COVID-19.

Reeves commended Searcy’s voluntary decision to cancel in-person services during the road to the viral peak, and encouraged other religious congregations to follow in his example. But without enforcement of the gathering ban, adherence to the statewide shelter-at-home order for the state’s countless churches and other religious organizations becomes just that: voluntary.

The governor said at the press conference that he believes urging, not enforcement or shaming, is the best way to reduce potentially deadly religious gatherings. In South Korea, the model the State of Mississippi says it is following, more than 63% of the total outbreaks in that country were traced back to gatherings of a Christian cult there in early 2020.

Editor-in-chief Donna Ladd contributed to this report. Email editor-in-chief Donna Ladd at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter at @donnerkay.

Read the JFP’s coverage of COVID-19 at jacksonfreepress.com/covid19. Get more details on preventive measures here. Read about announced closings and delays in Mississippi here. Read MEMA’s advice for a COVID-19 preparedness kit here.

Email information about closings and other vital related logistical details to [email protected].

Email state reporter Nick Judin, who is covering COVID-19 in Mississippi, at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter at @nickjudin. Seyma Bayram is covering the outbreak inside the capital city and in the criminal-justice system. Email her at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter at @seymabayram0.