A rose to our health care workers who again are under incredible strain as the new COVID variant sweeps across the country. Here in Mississippi and the Golden Triangle, where the vaccination rate continues to lag well below 50 percent, the explosion of new cases, almost all of them among unvaccinated people, threatens to strain hospital resources to the limit. While hospital administrators have sought to calm fears by saying they have contingency plans in place that will allow everyone who needs hospital treatment to receive it, there is no doubt that the burden placed on doctors, nurses and support staff either has reached or will soon reach the level it endured last winter when COVID was at a peak. The infection numbers are even worse now than then, so it’s possible our health care workers will be asked again to go far above and beyond to meet this crisis. Unlike last winter, this most recent surge has been largely avoidable. If the majority of people had agreed to be vaccinated, the situation would be far more tenable. We continue to urge everyone to get the vaccine. It is the responsible thing to do. Our health care workers will thank you.
A thorny rose to Lowndes County School District Superintendent Sam Allison for his decision to implement a mask requirement for all students. It’s unfortunate he didn’t recommend it to the school board sooner, though. On Friday, the district announced a district-wide mask requirement and that Caledonia High would be going virtual for two weeks. Virtual learning is exactly what all districts should seek to avoid. The data suggests that virtual school is a poor substitute for in-person learning. Virtual learning almost certainly would have been avoided had Allison and board members implemented a mask requirement at the outset of the school year like other area districts did. Instead, a majority of the board members bowed to pressure from a few dozen outspoken anti-mask parents at a July 29 board meeting and voted to make mask-wearing optional. When recommending the district-wide mask mandate to the board on Friday, Allison wisely asked board members not to debate masks but instead to follow guidance by medical experts. It’s a request we wish more people would take to heart.
A rose to the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors for its efforts to reclaim 320 acres of land off of Motley Road in the west part of the county. The land was leased to the Mississippi Sheriff’s Boys Ranch for $1 a year in 1977. Palmer Home for Children took over the property in 2005, which the county is arguing in court was prohibited by the original lease. When the Sheriff’s Boys Ranch program that benefited underprivileged children ended, the non-profit sublet the property to Palmer Home. Palmer Home did use the property for a while but has let the property and its facilities fall into a desperate state of disrepair. Palmer Home has provided no information on any plans to put the property back in good condition or use it for the purpose specified in the lease. As it is, it’s a poor use of taxpayer-owned property. The decision to reclaim the property of the county is the right course of action.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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