Reopening Mississippi: America's poorest state begins lifting lockdown

Despite rising coronavirus case numbers, the US state of Mississippi is moving out of lockdown and reopening parks, restaurants and other non-essential shops. Oliver Laughland went to the resort of Biloxi to see how residents were respondingCoronavirus – latest US updatesCoronavirus – latest global updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe US southern state of of Mississippi is the country’s poorest. It went into the coronavirus crisis with high levels of poverty and poor health outcomes. But following the period of lockdown and orders for residents to stay at home, the state’s governor Tate Reeves has eased restrictions – despite evidence that the rate of infections has not yet hit its peak. The Guardian’s Oliver Laughland travelled to the Mississippi coastal resort of Biloxi where he tells Mythili Rao he found the lockdown has hit hardest those working in low paid jobs in the tourism industry. One restaurant worker describes how the loss of work meant he has had to rely on the charity of his neighbours and local food banks. But despite growing numbers of cases, people are flocking back to the beach and increasingly breaching recommendations of minimum social distancing. The state is reopening, but at what cost? Continue reading…
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