It is not news that Mississippi is experiencing desperate times. As of December 14, 2020, 4,204 Mississippians have died from COVID 19; State hospital ICUs are full; the virus is rampant with 181,095 COVID cases and 1,164 hospitalized COVID-confirmed patients; 61 counties have mask mandates; hundreds of thousands of Mississippians have lost jobs, many receiving unemployment insurance; 359,000 Mississippians lack health insurance; roughly 352,000 renters in Mississippi face eviction January 1 without congressional assistance; hundreds of Mississippiâs small businesses have closed since March; more than 712,800 (24.1%) of Mississippians are food insecure; and 23,000 fewer school-aged children are enrolled in Mississippiâs public schools.
Being 50th is not new for Mississippi, but in 2020 existing and wide-ranging deficiencies have been amplified. Mississippians in all walks of life, in long term care facilities, in prisons, in schools, in hospitals and clinics and in everyda