Many change holiday plans due to coronavirus
Fireworks stands remain open in Oktibbeha County even as COVID-19 puts a damper on some people’s plans to celebrate on July 4th.
Orbit Fireworks stand operator Lisa Mcfarland said her stand had done decent business even as cases of the novel coronavirus continue to rise in Mississippi. However, some customers at the Highway 182 stand spoke to scaling down their holiday plans in light of the pandemic.
Mcfarland said there were few differences between running a fireworks stand during the pandemic and running one prior to the novel coronavirus.
“Everybody’s welcome to wear their mask and gloves in, whatever,” Mcfarland said. “That’s your option. “We keep everything clean in here. We disinfect. We keep it as safe as we can.
She said the pandemic had not had a great effect on her sales, with numbers so far comparable to a normal July 4 season.
“It’s been really good,” Mcfarland said.
Mcfarland said she had been hearing some of her customers discuss keeping their holiday plans.
“Some of the people coming in and buying stuff are going out of town for the Fourth,” Mcfarland said. “They’re having little get-togethers at their house or they’re just doing stuff with their families. It depends.”
Lucas Sumner and Anna White, who were shopping for fireworks at the Orbit stand said the pandemic had forced major changes to their July 4 plans, particularly with the recent increases in case numbers. The state hit a new all-time high last week, recording 1,092 cases on Thursday, June 25.
“We were going to have a party over on our property at Oktoc, but we had to cancel it, because we were afraid if anybody got COVID and came close, somebody was going to get it there, and we don’t want to spread it,” Sumner said.
He said the number of attendees at their celebration had gone from approximately 12 to three.
“I think just a couple of us, like me,
her and our roommate are going to go out there and shoot fireworks instead of bringing the whole crowd out there,” Sumner said.
He said he was sad that they couldn’t go through with the gathering, but that he understood the importance of preventing the spread of the novel coronavirus.
“I don’t want to get anybody sick, but I want to also have fun,” Sumner said. “We’d already bought a lot of food and invited people to the party, so last night we just started eating the food.
“We’re definitely trying to be safe,” Sumner added.
Chris Jenkins also said his usual July 4th plans were changed by the virus, with just him and his brother planning to shoot fireworks together in lieu of his family’s regular gathering.
“I’m still going to do fireworks, but I’m probably going to do it by myself, maybe with my brother around, but it’s probably going to be the two of us,” Jenkins said. “Normally it’s me and my family, like at least 10 people.”