It’s another record-breaking day in South MS with 400+ new COVID-19 cases
By far the number of new COVID-19 cases reported Thursday was a record for South Mississippi.
The state health department reported 427 new cases in the six southern counties with 191 of them among Harrison County residents. That tops the previous high of 387 on Tuesday by 40.
With 22 new cases today in Stone, all counties in South Mississippi now have 1,000 cases or more.
The state added 2,261 new cases Thursday, just under the previous high of 2,746 on Dec. 9.
There were 26 additional deaths reported, 2 of them in South Mississippi, 1 each in Jackson and Pearl River counties.
The state now has 4,320 deaths attributed to the coronavirus and 187,904 total cases.
South Mississippi has 447 COVID-19 deaths and 23,204 cases.
About 148,500 people are presumed to have recovered from the coronavirus.
Health experts say the number of cases are being spread at social and family events, and State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs tweeted a CDC example of a wedding in Maine that lead to 7 deaths.
“This type of thing is happening every day in MS,” Dobbs tweeted Wednesday.
“Please avoid social gatherings beyond the nuclear family for now (especially indoors).”
As cases climb, so do hospitalizations. As of Tuesday, there were 1,240 people hospitalized in Mississippi with the coronavirus, the 321 in ICU and 193 on ventilators — all record numbers.
Through Dec. 13, the health department reports that 9.5% of the people who tested positive for the coronavirus since March have been hospitalized.
Total cases in South Mississippi counties since March 11 are:
George — 1,534 (11 new)
Hancock —1,624 (60 new)
Harrison — 9,181 (191 new)
Jackson — 7,711 (87 new)
Pearl River — 2,139 (56 new)
Stone — 1,015 (22 new)
