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NATCHEZ — As some businesses are slowly starting to reopen, the threat of COVID-19 is far from gone, officials of the Natchez COVID-19 Task Force said during their meeting Tuesday morning.

As the number of virus cases in Adams County seems to be going down, Lee England, M.D., Task Force chairman, said people should continue to exercise caution and be prepared for necessary re-closings if the numbers spike again.

“I think a lot of people are still thinking that this virus is going to dry up in June or July and maybe have a short spike in the fall,” England said, adding the virus itself won’t disappear and is still dangerous until there is a treatment or vaccine.

“We’re somewhat on a downslide with a slow burn of cases but there will never be an absence of COVID-19 at least for the next two or three years,” he said, adding the measles vaccine — which is considered to be the fastest vaccination ever approved — took four years to be administered and released to the public.

“There might be a necessity to lock up again,” England said, recommending that the city re-evaluate the opening of businesses in four weeks based on trends in the number of virus cases.

While Adams County has had a relatively low number of new cases and deaths in recent weeks, England said Mississippi as a whole continues to trend upwards in cases and attributed the decline in Adams County local efforts to control the spread.