Newton County received a shipment of cloth masks from the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency to distribute to the community. Under executive order 1483, signed Tuesday by Gov. Tate Reeves, residents in Newton, Leake, Scott, Jasper, Neshoba, Attala and Lauderdale counties must wear masks when shopping, attending flea markets and live auctions, and whenever maintaining a 6-foot distance from others is not possible.
EMA Director Robbie Richardson said MEMA informed him Wednesday morning the masks were on the way. In the notice, he said MEMA allocated 251,000 masks to the 7-county area declared regions of high risk for coronavirus transmission.
Of the 251,000 masks, Newton County received an initial shipment of 6,600. Richardson said Newton County has a population of about 23,000, so there are not enough masks for everyone. Although MEMA has not confirmed additional shipments, he said it’s likely more will be sent soon.
The masks sent to Newton County were manufactured by Blue Delta Jeans Co., a clothing manufacturer in Oxford which repurposed it’s facilities to make masks during the coronavirus pandemic. Richardson said the cloth masks were machine washable and could safely be laundered and reused.
Distribution points for the masks have been set up at the Newton County Courthouse, Newton City Hall and Union City Hall. There is a limit of one mask per resident.
Richardson said he is also asking local churches and community organizations if they would be willing to help get the masks out to the community. Any organization or church interested in helping can contact Richardson at 601-635-4301 or 601-666-1477.
