Mississippi reports nearly 2,000 new COVID-19 cases, the most ever in a single day
Mississippi reported its largest number of new COVID-19 cases ever Saturday morning, with 1,972. The previous largest one-day increase was 1,775 on July 30.
The grim milestone also means that two of the three worst days for coronavirus case reporting in the state were Saturday and Friday. The seven-day new-case average now stands at 1,294.
The state’s health department also reported 15 new COVID-19 deaths, with three in Jackson County and one in Pearl River County. It also reported six new deaths that had been identified from death certificate reports between Oct. 31 and Nov. 13, including one in Harrison County.
As of Friday, the Coast’s largest hospital has no ICU beds left: Memorial Hospital in Gulfport is treating four COVID-19 patients and none of the hospital’s 26 ICU beds are open.
The picture is a bit brighter at the Coast’s other hospitals. The smaller Merit Health in Biloxi has two beds available and is treating one COVID-19 patient; the Singing River hospitals in Ocean Springs and Pascagoula have five and seven beds available respectively.
As of Thursday, the number of patients hospitalized in the state was 863, about a 45% increase from Oct. 30, when it was 595. Of those patients, 225 are on ventilators.
There were 237 new cases in the six South Mississippi counties, with 97 in Harrison County and 72 in Jackson.
The new single-day record comes as millions of Americans plan to travel to celebrate with their extended families. State health officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs and Mississippi State Medical Association President Dr. Mark Horne have warned Mississippians that gathering over Thanksgiving will lead to severe illnesses and deaths by Christmas.
“It’s going to happen. You’re going to say hi at Thanksgiving, it’s so nice to see you, and you’re either going to be visiting her by Facetime in the ICU or planning a small funeral by Christmas,” Horne said at an MSMA Zoom meeting earlier this month.
The doctors urged people to avoid other Thanksgiving traditions like Black Friday shopping as well.
Dobbs reemphasized that same point at a Facebook Live on Friday.
“Now is the riskiest time we’ve seen for transmission during this whole pandemic,” Dobbs said.
Here are the numbers for each South Mississippi county:
- George: 1,210 cases (22 new)
- Hancock: 1,123 cases (9 new)
- Harrison: 6,763 cases (97 new)
- Jackson: 6,019 (72 new)
- Pearl River: 1,405 cases (20 new)
- Stone: 704 cases (17 new)
Anita Lee contributed reporting.
This story was originally published November 21, 2020 at 9:47 AM.
