For those living, working or visiting Vicksburg and Warren County for at least the next month, keep those facemasks and other face coverings close by.

Monday morning, both the Board of Mayor and Aldermen and the Warren County Board of Supervisors extended mask mandates through at least Nov. 2.

The mandates require those who enter any business or public building or are in any setting where social distancing is not possible, to wear a face-covering of some kind. The mandates are just part of the civil emergency orders approved by both governmental bodies that also include social distancing measures to continue the downward trend in COVID-19 cases.

Monday, the Mississippi State Department of Health announced two new confirmed cases in Warren County, bringing the total number of cases reported in Warren County since the start of the pandemic to 1,431. But, since the city and county instituted mask mandates in mid-July, at a time when cases were spiking locally, the number of new cases has plummeted.

At the time the mask mandates were first ordered, Warren County was seeing as many as 20 new cases per day. Over the past 14 days, the county has seen 3.5 new cases per day, and the past seven days have been even better with an average of 3.1 new cases per day.

Over the weekend, though, state health officials announced the 51st virus-related death in the county. The death announced Sunday was actually from Sept. 13 but had been reclassified as a COVID-related death after further investigation.

Since the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Mississippi on March 11, the state has now seen a total of 100,703 cases and 3,013 deaths. Monday’s report was among the few days in recent months where no new deaths were reported in the state.