‘Hospitals are struggling.’ 3 Coast counties see double-digit increase in COVID-19 cases
Mississippi’s State Department of Health reported over 1,000 cases of COVID-19 for the first time this week, announcing 1,092 new cases on Wednesday.
The seven-day average now stands at 1,117.14 after a recent high of 1,294.14 on Nov. 21.
Hospitalization numbers continued their dramatic increase in the state with 946 patients hospitalized with confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of Nov. 23. There were another 95 people in hospitals with suspected cases of the coronavirus.
The number of patients hospitalized with confirmed cases of COVID-19 has increased by 386 since Nov. 4.
COVID-19 cases in South Mississippi
George — 1,223 (1 new case)
Hancock — 1,159 (18 new cases)
Harrison — 6,898 (50 new cases)
Jackson — 6,178 (54 new cases)
Pearl River — 1,465 (21 new cases)
Stone — 731 (7 new cases)
Tuesday, Nov. 24
The state health department reported another 665 cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, with 101 new cases and 9 new deaths in the six southern counties of South Mississippi.
The state now has a total of 144,545 cases and 3,729 deaths, with an additional 53 new deaths reported statewide Tuesday — the largest single day number of deaths recorded since Aug. 26 when 58 deaths were reported.
In addition, the health department reported another 153 outbreaks at long-term care facilities.
Nine of the new deaths occurred in the southern counties, with 1 new death in George County, 2 new deaths each in Hancock and Jackson counties, and 4 news deaths in Harrison County.
Though the number of new cases of coronavirus dipped Monday and Tuesday, the number of new cases have significantly increased in the last week.
The number of cases reported Tuesday for South Mississippi counties is listed below:
George — 1,222 cases (6 new)
Hancock — 1,141 cases (0 new)
Harrison — 6,848 cases (23 new)
Jackson — 6,124 cases (56 new)
Pearl River — 1,444 cases (15 new)
Stone —724 cases (1 new)
MSDH tweeted Tuesday, “Hospitals are struggling to cope with the increasing number of COVID-19 patients. The extraordinary rise in COVID-19 admissions over the last two weeks is something we cannot sustain.”
Monday, Nov. 23
As is typical of the weekend, the Mississippi State Department of Health reported lower COVID-19 numbers for Monday than the state sees Tuesday through Saturday, with 699 new cases and no new deaths.
The state now has a total of 143,879 cases of COVID-19 and 3,676 deaths.
With cases well above 1,000 for Wednesday through Saturday, the state set a new record Saturday for the highest number of daily cases reported to date: 1,972.
State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs tweeted a hospitalization chart Saturday that showed a rising number of beds occupied by COVID-19 patients. “Record cases and progressing to record hospitalizations,” Dobbs wrote in his tweet. “Please keep Thanksgiving small, local and outdoors.”
Test positivity rates are above the 5% considered too high in all South Mississippi counties. A high test positivity rate indicates a high rate of community transmission relative to the number of people being tested, according to the World Health Organization.
Mississippi’s average test positivity rate is around 13%, Dobbs said last week.
The nonprofit organization COVID Act Now — which works with university health centers at Georgetown, Stanford and Harvard and compiles data nationwide — reports that the highest test positivity rates in the state are currently in South Mississippi.
George County has the highest test positivity rate of 36.8%, followed by Jackson County with a rate of 29.5%. Harrison County’s rate is 11.7%. Stone County has the lowest rate in South Mississippi at 5.5%.
The nonprofit also said a high positivity rate indicates “testing in Mississippi is limited and that most cases may go undetected. At these levels, it is hard to know how fast COVID is actually spreading, and there is risk of being surprised by a second wave of disease.”
Mississippi is not alone. Nationwide, all states except Hawaii have high caseloads that are growing higher, data from state health departments compiled by The New York Times shows.
Public health officials have been urging people not to travel during Thanksgiving but instead to spend the holiday with their immediate households, visit others via online video or hold small gatherings outdoors if people outside the immediate household will attend.
Many people are ignoring this advice.
“If our plans don’t change, Thanksgiving will be the Super Bowl of super spreader events, accelerating an epidemic already out of control,” Dr. Tom Frieden, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, wrote in an online piece.
“ . . . Better a Zoom Thanksgiving than an ICU Christmas.”
The number of cases reported Monday for South Mississippi counties is listed below:
George — 1,216 cases (1 new)
Hancock — 1,141 cases (8 new)
Harrison — 6,825 cases (24 new)
Jackson — 6,068 cases (25 new)
Pearl River — 1,429 cases (9 new)
Stone —723 cases (13 new)
Sunday, Nov. 22
MSDH reported 779 new cases of COVID-19 and 19 deaths, with four of the deaths added after investigations.
Sunday virus numbers are generally lower because of weekend reporting. None of the deaths reported were in South Mississippi.
The state now has a total of 142,401 cases of COVID-19 with 3,657 deaths.
The number of cases for South Mississippi counties is listed below.
George — 1,215 (5 new)
Hancock — 1,133 (10 new)
Harrison — 6,801 (38 new)
Jackson — 6,043 (24 new)
Pearl River — 1,420 (15 new)
Stone — 710 (6 new)
This story was originally published November 23, 2020 at 10:49 AM.
