Mississippi Gov.Tate Reeves Calls CDC Mask Guidance ‘Foolish’ and ‘Harmful’

Mississippi's children are being heavily impacted by COVID-19.

At the start of school, 30 children were reported hospitalized with COVID-19 in the state, according to the Mississippi State Department of Health. Three of the 30 at Children’s of Mississippi in Jackson were in the intensive care unit.

One of these children, a 13-year-old girl, died from COVID-19 complications. She is one of the five Mississippi school children to succumb to the virus this year. Her school district is reporting 100+ cases of the virus among student and staff members, with 659 people in quarantine.

Still, Gov.Tate Reeves insists he will not be issuing another mask mandate for schools this year. He recently called the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's updated mask guidance "foolish" and "harmful," adding "it has nothing to do with rational science" and that in his state, "we believe in freedom."

As a result, some schools in the state are mandating masks and others are not.