Dr. Dobbs ‘can’t imagine' a scenario in which Mississippi would go under another lockdown

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - In a digital press conference Tuesday, Dr. Dobbs said that he ‘can’t imagine' a scenario in which Mississippi would need to go under another coronavirus lockdown.

This after Gov. Reeves recently stated that the state would not participate in a nationwide lockdown if one is mandated by President-elect Joe Biden.

Dobbs was responding to a question citing France’s “amazing results” due to their recent nationwide lockdowns. He was then asked if there were any scenarios in which he could see America or Mississippi doing the same.

“I don’t think it’s necessary and I think... even though it worked it was counterproductive to the rest of our response..." Dobbs said.

He then said that lockdowns are not needed to stop the spread of the coronavirus, adding “we don’t want people to lose their jobs or anything like that."

Dobbs said there is a lot that Mississippians can do before a lockdown would even be considered. "So, I can’t imagine a scenario where that’s going to be required because such simple stuff works.”

In the press conference, Dobbs was also asked if there was a safe way to go to church due the recent spike in cases around the state.

He responded saying that, unfortunately, doctors have seen people entering churches without masks once a state-wide mask mandate has been lifted.

He then called on pastors of these churches to remind their parishioners to continue wearing masks.

Dobbs said that if your church is spacing attendees out and wearing masks, “it probably can be done relatively safely” but, by and large, “I think that’s very hard to do. Especially being in a setting where you have so many high-risk folks intermixing.”

He ended the answer by stating that at the moment, virtual church services “make a lot of sense.”

Swabs to test for the coronavirus are fairly easy to access from the Health Department. This includes rapid tests. I

f your test comes back negative, Dr. Dobbs doesn’t want you to let your guard down.

“You can’t test out of an outbreak. We’ve seen multiple outbreaks in the state of Mississippi where people tested negative and then spread it the next day. Especially with the rapid (tests). The rapid (tests) are not very good about picking up people who are asymptomatic," said Dobbs.

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