"We should not be here, y'all"

Outside the tent, it’s a typical Mississippi summer afternoon. Hot and humid. Droning portable air conditioning units provide relief inside. The tent does not look like it’s in a parking garage, but the Ford F-150 visible through the rolled up section of tarp in the back gives it away.

“We should not be here, y’all,” Dobbs said.

In about nine hours, this tent will be full of COVID-19 patients — 20 to be exact, according to hospital officials. Another tent being constructed next to this one will hold an additional 30.

“When you’re standing in a field hospital at a major academic medical center, we’re pretty much at a collapse,” said Alan Jones, COVID-19 clinical response leader for the University of Mississippi Medical Center. “This is not enough beds to support the state of Mississippi.”