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Dr. Deborah Birx visits Ole Miss campus, praises school for COVID-19 response efforts

Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal - 9/13/2020

Sep. 12--OXFORD -- Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator, met with University of Mississippi leaders, local officials and healthcare professionals on Saturday to discuss ways to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Birx recently met with Gov. Tate Reeves and other state health officials in July, when the state was experiencing a spike in coronavirus cases.

"We were here about eight weeks ago and Mississippi was having a really significant outbreak of COVID-19," Birx said. "Through the incredible work of everyone in Mississippi, over the last five weeks you've gone from over almost 60 counties with more than 10 percent test positivity down to 23 counties, and over 16 to 17 percent statewide test positivity to now in the eight percent range. I think this really shows the power of behavioral change, the power of these masks, and the power of social distancing."

Students returned to campus for the fall semester in August. As of Friday, the university has 106 active confirmed cases with 105 of those being students and one being a staff member.

Birx spoke with University of Mississippi Chancellor Glenn Boyce and other university leaders on ways to continue to decrease the spread of the virus. She said one of the ways is to increase surveillance testing.

"We were impressed by the partnership that the university has developed with the community, the students and the administration," Birx said. "We talked about testing and the importance of increasing surveillance testing. We think they're doing great diagnostic testing, isolation and caring for students. It's clear that this university has put the health of the students first and the health of the community first. I just want to thank the administration and leadership for their amazing work."

"I'd like to thank our contact tracing team," Boyce said. To have a contact tracing team has proven to be valuable for us in order to react to the virus in an effort to stop the spread.

"You have to remain flexible during this time," he added. "New information comes in at all times and when that new information comes in, you have to be able to use it effectively and react with it."

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(c)2020 the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal (Tupelo, Miss.)

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