Yesterday, the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) announced that they have distributed 2.25 million masks across the state.
Theres been a lot of work thats been done, MEMA Executive Director Greg Michel said. Weve come a long way over the last 60 days on this effort, and Im so proud of the folks Ive been working with.
Of the 2.25 million masks, over 500,000 were made locally.
The 2.25 million masks that we have been able to push out as part of the community mask program, over half a million were made right here in Mississippi, Michel said. Were still working every day to try and increase the capacity on not only masks but on all of our products, and the purpose of that is to drive that money that we are spending to try and keep it here in Mississippi and keep Mississippians employed to the largest degree that we can.
While Michel is ecstatic with what his team has been able to do thus far, he emphasized that the efforts to distribute personal protective equipment (PPE) by MEMA wont stop until the pandemic does.
Were not going to stop the process, Michel said. Weve still got to push this PPE out, and of course if you heard Dr. [Thomas] Dobbs talk yesterday at the press conference, we are anticipating another resurgence in the fall which means another demand on PPE.
Historically, pandemics tend to occur in more than one wave. For example, the 1918 influenza pandemic consisted of three waves with the second wave being the most fatal. Most to all Mississippians were not properly prepared for the current coronavirus wave, making Michels ultimate goal to not let that happen again when a second wave inevitably strikes.
We dont want to be there again, and we dont intend to let that happen again.
To watch the full interview with Michel, check out the video below.
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