COVID-19 death curve ‘rising rapidly’ as Mississippi averages 30 new deaths a day
When the first case of coronavirus was identified March 11 in Mississippi, nobody could imagine the impact that would still be felt at Christmas.
On Monday, the Mississippi health department reported 1,167 new cases. This comes after two weeks of mostly 2,000 cases or more a day and a seven-day average for the state of 2,058 new cases a day. Numbers are typically lower on Mondays because of less reporting by private labs over the weekends.
There were 2 more deaths Monday, neither of which was in South Mississippi.
Dr. Thomas Dobbs, state health officer, was asked Friday what it’s like to have a bad case of the coronavirus.
“They say they feel like ‘I’m going to die,’” Dobbs said.
To date, 9.5% of the people who test positive in Mississippi had to be hospitalized. Some of those people spend six weeks on a ventilator with a tube in their throat, Dobbs said.
“Just imagine what that’s like,” he said.
“As predicted - our mortality curve is rising rapidly,” Dobbs tweeted Sunday. “This is real, this is deadly. Please: keep it small (and outdoors) this holiday season. By Executive Order - all indoor social gatherings must be 10 or less.”
The state is now averaging 30 new deaths a day. The highest average during the summer peak was 35 deaths a day, and that record was broken Dec. 16 with a high of 36.
Eleven months in, Mississippi now has 195,500 residents who have tested positive for the coronavirus, 24,198 of them in the six counties of South Mississippi.
The state estimates 148,466 have recovered from the coronavirus through Dec. 13.
Deaths attributed to the coronavirus are 4,411 in Mississippi and 460 in South Mississippi.
There have been 79 deaths in South Mississippi in December. Jackson County has the largest number of total deaths at 147, followed by Harrison County with 135. Harrison County has the most cases with 9,574, followed by Jackson County with 7,998.
Shipments of the two vaccines for the coronavirus are arriving at local hospitals.
“Most likely and hopefully by March, once enough vaccines are produced to be available for the public, Singing River will offer COVID-19 vaccines at no cost in our medical clinics and will be able to hold vaccine events as we did for COVID tests and flu shots for anyone who wants one,” said Lee Bond, CEO of Singing River Medical Center.
By county, total cases since March 11 are:
George — (8 new)
Hancock — (21 new)
Harrison — (96 new)
Jackson — (52 new)
Pearl River — (22 new)
Stone — (4 new)
Sunday
The state had 2,222 new cases and 19 deaths reported, 2 of them in Pearl River County and 1 in Harrison County.
The health department reported 257 new cases in South Mississippi.
Total cases by county on Sunday are:
George — (16 new)
Hancock — (20 new)
Harrison — (74 new)
Jackson — (103 new)
Pearl River — (30 new)
Stone — (14 new)
