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pandemic
Code Red: Hinds County Doubles COVID-19 Infection Rates In Two Months by Kayode Crown courtesy City of Jackson
Mayor Chokwe A. Lumumba closed city hall last week with a new executive order requiring many city workers to work from home in reaction to increasing cases of COVID-19 infection.
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inds County is now categorized as red, the color code for areas with over 10% COVID-19 test positivity rates. It has recorded 11,046 cases of COVID-19, with 208 deaths as of Dec. 7. That is a death rate of 1.9%, slightly lower than Mississippi’s at 2.39%. The COVID-19 test positivity rate in Hinds County doubled between September and November. It was 6.1% in the last week of September but jumped from 7.5% in the last week of to 12.2 in the last week of November, records on Mississippi Department of Health website showed. Recent concerns of an increase in the rate of infection in Jackson prompted Mayor Chokwe A. Lumumba
to enact an executive order last week directing non-essential workers to work remotely. This followed reports of a 142% increase in cases in some parts of the city. Lumumba, while stating the rationale for the new executive order, said that the city does not have the luxury of a wait-and-see attitude to the coronavirus pandemic, which yesterday crossed the 4,000-death mark at 4,017 deaths from 167,926 infections in Mississippi. “Continued extraordinary measures related to preventing the spread of the coronavirus are necessary and expedient for the health, safety, welfare and good order to protect the public peace and preserve lives,” Lumumba said in the order.
JPS Starts In-person Schooling January After engaging in fully virtual classes since Aug. 10, the Jackson Public School District has added traditional and hybrid schooling as options for various students categories starting January. JPS Superintendent Errick L. Greene said in a video posted in November that the decision is partly because of differences in family circumstances. “And now as we prepare for the spring semester, we’re reminded that not all of our JPS families are similarly situated, and we must therefore offer more options to ensure that our scholars succeed,” he said. “We believe this is the right decision for several reasons.” “The social and emotional needs of our scholars are great, and it’s very difficult to offer those virtually,” the superintendent added. “Our youngest scholars require in-person instruction to ensure that they have the foundational skills for greater success.” The superintendent said that the prospect of getting a vaccine and lessons learned from districts already running the traditional learning format also guided the decision to opt for the change. “We’ve been learning lessons from others who have run in-person traditional programs,” Greene said. “And so some of the strategies and some of the smartest moves that they’re implementing, we’re learning from those, and we’ll be able to use those in our own practices here.” From January, elementary students can choose between virtual and in-person options, while middle- and high-school students will choose between virtual or hybrid. Greene said the in-person learning will be with appropriate measures against the spread of coronavirus. “For our middle and high school scholars, they will also have the option of a hybrid instructional program on alternating A and B days to allow for greater distancing and enhanced cleaning,” he said. “I’m excited about this transition to what we’ve coined a smart restart, and we will continue to monitor the data and adjust the plan as necessary.” Email story tips to city/county reporter Kayode Crown at kayode@jacksonfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter at @kayodecrown.
International Museum of Muslim Cultures Receives Kellogg Foundation Grant ership of Muhammad, the Prophet and Head of State, who prepared the first Constitution in history for his multi-ethnic, multi-racial, multi-lingual and multi-religious Commonwealth,” a release from IMMC says. The museum is also displaying the “Legacy of Timbuktu: Wonders of the Written Word” exhibition at its 201 E. Pascagoula St. location, which emphasizes Islamic West Africa’s culture of literature, scholarship, wealth and empire-building, the release says. IMMC has used earlier grants from the
Kellogg Foundation as part of its efforts to educate communities nationwide in understanding that “human dignity is fundamental to combating injustice and achieving racial equity and healing.” The Muslim Public Affairs Council will host IMMC in a virtual webinar on Thursday, Dec. 17, at 6 p.m. central time, which will feature “Exploring African Islamic Contributions to Civilization.” The webinar will coincide with the museum’s national tour of its two signature exhibits. For more information, visit https://bit.ly/2INExe1.
December 9 - 22, 2020 • jfp.ms
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by Dustin Cardon
he W.K. Kellogg Foundation recently gave a three-year, $475,000 grant to the International Museum of Muslim Cultures in Jackson. IMMC has received grant awards totaling $1,140,000 from Kellogg Foundation since 2017, including $65,000 in June for COVID-19 relief. IMMC is currently exhibiting “Muslims with Christians and Jews: An Exhibition of Covenants and Coexistence,” which opened in June 2020 at IMMC’s satellite location at 101 E. Capitol St. in downtown Jackson. The Exhibit introduces the “peace-building lead-
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