Jackson County sees big COVID-19 increase, with MS numbers above 1,000 for fourth day.
For the fourth consecutive day, the Mississippi State Health Department on Saturday is reporting more than 1,000 new COVID-19 cases, with 1,017 new cases and 14 deaths added to the pandemic’s toll.
The state now has a total of 48,846 COVID-19 cases and 1,346 deaths.
In South Mississippi, Jackson County saw the biggest jump, with 118 new cases reported Saturday, or a 13% increase in total cases. COVID-19 hot spot Harrison County saw a downward revision in its numbers, with 14 cases subtracted from the previous day’s total.
Harrison County’s total cases are now 1,356, with no new deaths reported in the six South Mississippi counties. George County’s total cases also were revised downward, with three cases removed from the total, which now stands at 151.
New cases and totals for other South Mississippi counties:
▪ Hancock: Seven new cases, 187 total cases.
▪ Pearl River: Nine new cases, 355 total cases.
▪ Stone: Four news cases, 98 total cases.
Statewide, the MSDH says, long-term care facilities account for 20 of the new cases and five of the deaths. Active outbreaks in long-term care facilities have once again increased, as State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs predicted. Widespread community transmission, he said, eventually winds up hitting elderly family members.
The state now has active outbreaks in 142 long-term care facilities, including facilities in George, Hancock, Harrison and Jackson counties in South Mississippi.
The numbers had been lower after the MSDH tested all workers and residents of long-term homes and took other action to slow the spread.
The total number of patients hospitalized with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 was slightly lower at 1,076. The number of patients on ventilators was up by four, with a total of 129. Six more patients were in ICU, bringing the total to 253.
As COVID-19 cases surge, Gov. Tate Reeves and Dobbs have said in regular afternoon news briefings that hospitals in some areas of the state have run out of beds and they fear the problem will grow worse unless residents heed public health advice to stay home, wear masks in public and maintain a social distance of 6 feet when they venture out.
Residents in Harrison and Jackson counties are under mandates to wear masks in public, with gatherings limited to no more than 10 indoors and 20 outdoors.
