Brookhaven Mayor Joe Cox is asking citizens and visitors to the city to follow Gov. Tate Reeves’ most recent mask mandate.

Tuesday, Reeves expanded a previous mask mandate to include 19 more counties — 41 of the state’s 82 in total — including Lincoln County. The order went into effect Wednesday at 8 a.m. and will extend through Dec. 11 at 5 p.m.

“Please wear a mask, practice social distancing and wash your hands frequently to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 and protect the health of family, friends and neighbors,” Cox said in a printed statement.

Cox is one of 1,868 people in the county to have contracted the virus since the onset of the pandemic. Seven new cases were reported in the county Wednesday by the Mississippi State Department of Health.

As of Wednesday, MSDH had recorded 145,636 cases and 3,745 deaths statewide — 1,092 new cases and 16 previously unrecorded deaths were reported Wednesday.

Executive Order No. 1532, the governor’s most recent executive order, can be viewed and printed from www.sos.ms.gov or a copy can be requested from the Brookhaven City Clerk’s Office.