Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba is slowly re-opening the Capital City following months of lockdown due to COVID-19, while acknowledging that data does not yet reflect that Jackson or the State of Mississippi has experienced a decline in the rate of new COVID-19 cases. Photo courtesy City of Jackson

(JACKSON, Miss.) – Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba is slowly re-opening the Capital City following months of lockdown due to COVID-19, while acknowledging that data does not yet reflect that Jackson or the State of Mississippi has experienced a decline in the rate of new COVID-19 cases.

“What I am faced with now is just not simply a question of the data, but a question of what is practical based on the fact that so many cities are opening up around us. We can maintain our social distancing; we can maintain our procedures as a city, but it has little effect if people living in Jackson can go north, south, east, and west in order to go into places that are now open for public congregation,” said Mayor Lumumba at an emergency COVID-19 press briefing on May 8th.

The mayor along with several members of the COVID-19 Task Force have discussed the reopening plans and phases for the City of Jackson. The first phase will ease some restrictions on the operation of retail shops, restaurants, gyms and fitness studios, and personal grooming services such as hair and nail salons and barber shops. For a complete list of guidelines, please visit www.jacksonms.gov/slowopen.

Additionally, Mayor Lumumba has issued three additional executive orders including Stay Safe Jackson which recommends staying home as much as possible, requires the wearing of a facial covering in public, along with other guidelines for businesses. The others include a nightly curfew from 11:00 pm – 5:00 am, and a continuance of the COVID-19 Civil Emergency and Closure of City Hall. Each order goes into effect Saturday, May 16, 2020.