Thomas Dobbs, State Health Officer, discussed Monday’s press conference whether the absence of the mandate is directly due to the increase in cases. Dobbs stated that numbers began to rise before there was any potential effect from the mandate. It could be part of the problem, however, I will admit. “I’ve been disappointed to hear from churches and businesses that they don’t feel in control of having their members or visitors wear masks. It’s been 12 days since Gov. Reeves allowed the state’s mask mandate to expire. The CDC states that the incubation time, which is the time period between an infection and symptoms, is usually two weeks. From late July to mid-September, the number of new cases has been steadily decreasing. The statewide mask mandate was implemented by Gov. The seven-day average of cases fell by 54% after Reeves’s Aug. 4 initiative. The September 4th, 2009 case average has reached its highest level since Sept. 4. The state health department has never reported more that 853 cases per day in September. In the past week, only three single-day totals have exceeded that number. The latest COVID-19 school report, which is compiled every week, revealed that 521 students, teachers, and staff were sick between Sept. 25th and Oct. 2. The hospitalization data also showed a dramatic difference between before, during and after the mask mandate. The seven-day average of total COVID-19 hospitalizations, confirmed and suspected cases, decreased by 52% during the mandate. As a lagging indicator of health, the average hospitalizations is about where it was in September. The latest update shows that the average grew each day between Oct. 3 and Oct. 9, which is the longest stretch of such a stretch since July. Dobbs stated that all indicators point in the wrong direction. “Hospitalizations and cases are increasing; deaths are not so high, but that is what we know. It was the summer surge that brought about the last such increase. In general, the largest increases in case numbers have been seen in counties along the Gulf Coast and north Mississippi. These are the counties that have seen the highest percent increases in this month’s cases: