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After weeks of spiking numbers, Mississippi’s new confirmed COVID-19 numbers are starting to level off and are not growing as rapidly as they did throughout most of July, in which daily new cases were at or above 1,000 cases.

The tapering off of the daily cases is not a reason to let our guards down, however.

Instead, the lower numbers should be a call to action for us to keep up the social distancing and mask wearing that have helped the state lower the numbers in recent days.

We are all tired of the COVID-19 routine of isolation, social distancing, hand washing and mask wearing.

Remember, however, that after the initial shutdown during March, April and May, people let their guards down and the numbers quickly began to rise through June and July.

A renewed push for social distancing and mask wearing appears to be working but now is not the time to  give up as we learned from the earlier effort.

So, let’s push on through this time. Keep your distance, wear a mask or face covering when in public, avoid large crowds, don’t touch your face and wash your hands frequently.

By following those procedures we can help stop the rising COVID-19 numbers once and for all.