During a press briefing on Friday, President Donald Trump stated that a national lockdown was not being considered as a response to the coronavirus outbreak in the United States, but rumors continued to circulate.
These rumors were shut down on a national level by Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf and in Mississippi by Speaker of the House Philip Gunn.
Hearing a lot about texts from “friends at DHS” or “friends with connections at DHS” that say DHS is planning a national lock down.
THIS IS NOT TRUE.
Do not believe the disinformation campaigns. Please do not pass it along. Use trusted local and federal government sources.
— Acting Secretary Chad Wolf (@DHS_Wolf) March 20, 2020
While the Governors of states like New York, California, Illinois and Washington have issued “stay-at-home” orders, Gunn said on Twitter that there is no plan to issue such an order in Mississippi.
To address misinformation circulating: There are NO plans for the government to order any kind of mandatory “shut down” of our state. All that has been done is a request to stay home as much as you can and to follow the guidelines of the CDC and MSDH.
— Philip Gunn (@PhilipGunnMS) March 21, 2020
On Friday, the Mississippi State Department of Health did recommend the suspension of dine-in services at all restaurants and bars across the state.
