Mississippi’s governor and top health officer begged Mississippians to do their parts to help slow the coronavirus spread in the state and cast politics aside as the state’s number of infections and deaths continue to climb.

“The president said that he believes it’s patriotic to wear a mask,” Gov. Tate Reeves said. “If you love the president, join him, be patriotic and wear a mask. If you don’t like the president, then just wear a mask to spite him.”

“Same with me. If you think I’m doing a good job as governor, I ask you to wear a mask in public, stay socially distanced, six feet apart, don’t gather in large groups,” he said. “If you think I’m worthless and doing a horrible job, then why don’t you just prove me wrong, wear a mask, stay socially distanced.

Mississippi reported more than 1,500 new cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus Wednesday. More than 8,500 new infections have been reported in the last seven days. The state began imposing mask mandates and other restrictions on counties in the state that are the hardest hit, but Reeves encouraged all Mississippians to follow the same guidance – facial masks in public, social distancing and avoid large groups.

“I believe these little things will make a difference,” Reeves said.

“The question that remains to everyone out there is are all of us going to do our part?”

“To those of you who simply want to make a political statement … let’s all come together as a state. Let’s come together as a people,” he said.

“Let’s recognize that what has happened in the past is in the past. We can’t change what we did two weeks ago. We can change what we do tomorrow.  We can make a decision today to do better tomorrow.

“My ask of each of you is to join me in doing better tomorrow. Let’s wear masks. Let’s stay socially distanced. LEt’s not gather in large groups. Let’s be smart and most of all, let’s stay safe,” Reeves said.

Mississippi State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs said it’s a myth that the virus is not affecting children.

He said two pediatric cases with coronavirus were in intensive care in Mississippi hospitals and that a 20-year-old patient had just died from the virus.

Dobbs also said Mississippians must stop gathering in groups to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

“The crowd situations are killing us,” he said. “People are absolutely not staying in small groups. When we put a lot of people together in a large group, that is extremely dangerous, indoors or outdoors.”