INSANE

COVID Is Surging in Mississippi. This City Is Hosting a Block Party.

The mayor of Ocean Springs doesn’t believe the state’s numbers. He also doesn’t wear a mask.

Coronavirus cases are surging in Mississippi, but that isn’t stopping the city of Ocean Springs from hosting a block party for the Fourth of July weekend. The Biloxi Sun Herald reports that Mayor Shea Dobson defended the decision in an email to a constituent, writing, “The hospital is nowhere near capacity and capable of serving everyone. The curve has been flattened.” Mississippi health officials say that’s simply not true—the state broke its own one-day record for new infections this week—but Dobson conveniently does not believe the numbers. He also does not wear a mask, the basic precaution for preventing the spread of the virus. Local attorney Robert Wiygul, who has relatives infected with the virus and a very sick employee, has one question for city officials: “What the heck are you thinking?”