Gov. Tate Reeves is continuing to add more businesses to open that have been shut down for weeks due to the coronavirus. Reeves in his daily press briefing announced the opening for casinos and tattoo shops Friday.
Casinos are set to reopen on May 21, just before the Memorial Day weekend. Reeves said there will be strict guidelines that the businesses will have to adhere to regarding sanitation and social distancing.
For Mark Carithers, owner of Marked Tattoos on Main Street, he is happy to be back at work.
“I haven’t worked since March 16,” he said sitting on a bench outside his shop on Tuesday.
For Carithers, right now it is by appointment, and only one person is allowed in his shop at a time.
Marion County has a total of 93 cases of COVID-19 as of press time Tuesday. On Sunday, a Marion County resident succumbed to the virus, bringing deaths to eight. Across the state, there have been a total of 11,704 confirmed cases as of press time Tuesday.
As of Tuesday morning, Marion General Hospital had a total of five cases with no cases in ICU, according to the ForrestHealth Covid-19 website.
On May 13 both the Mississippi House and Senate passed legislation to allot $300 million of the CARES Act money to assist small businesses affected by the virus and shutdown. Of that, $60 million would be set aside in a direct payment program to immediately help businesses that were forced to shut down due to state or local regulations, according to Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann’s press release.
The direct payment program would provide qualifying businesses such as hair stylists, fitness centers and some restaurants a flat $2,000 check, according to the statement. Businesses with less than 50 customers can apply for a “Back to Business Mississippi Grant Fund” for up to $25,000 for costs incurred by the virus.
Another $240 million will be applied to grants. Hosemann, in his release, said the first 21 days of the application period for the grant program, only businesses that did not receive funds from the Paycheck Protection Program or Economic Injury Disaster Emergency Advance or any other program will be considered.
The program is available to all small businesses, including sole proprietorships.
On a separate note, Mississippi Department of Health issued a second alert on Tuesday announcing the first pediatric death from the flu in 2020. This is the first pediatric flu death since 2018, according to the press release.
