COVID South MS update: Cases down, but ICU beds scarce on MS Gulf Coast

The number of new COVID-19 cases case continued a slight daily decline in cases Saturday, although there are a total of 391 new cases reported in the southern counties in South Mississippi.

Still, the South Mississippi intensive care units continue to be filled with patients fighting the coronavirus since the Christmas holiday.

Statewide, the Mississippi State Department of Health reported Saturday a total of 1,856 new cases and 39 new deaths in addition to 200 current outbreaks at long-term care facilities.

Of the new deaths reported statewide, five of them occurred in the six southern counties in South Mississippi, with two new deaths each reported in Harrison and Jackson counties and one new death in Hancock County.

To date, the six southern counties have a total of 35,006 cases of COVID-19, bringing down slightly the new seven-day average in cases to 330.14.

Harrison County had a triple digit increase in cases, with 174 new cases reported and state reported a double-digit increase in cases in southern counties of Hancock, Jackson, Pearl River and Stone counties.

Mississippi now has a statewide total of 263,023 cases, and 5,752 deaths.

COVID-19 cases in South Mississippi

• George: 2,043 (8 new)
• Hancock: 2,918 (34 new)
• Harrison: 14,224 (174 new)
• Jackson: 10,839 (11 new)
• Pearl River: 3,478 (46 new)
• Stone: 1,514 (19 new)

Friday

While the number of COVID-19 cases has dropped from the post-holiday highs of early January, South Mississippi intensive care units are filled with patients who had to be hospitalized in the following days.

A chart on the Mississippi State Health Department website shows available only nine of 105 total ICU beds in South Mississippi the last time the numbers were updated Wednesday. A total of 41 patients were in ICU beds in South Mississippi, the chart shows.

A total of 172 people were hospitalized Wednesday with COVID-19 in South Mississippi. Bed availability shifts daily.

Statewide, the number of daily COVID-19 cases reported Friday morning by the Mississippi State Department of Health remains above 2,000, but numbers have not been as high this week as they were with the post-holiday spike in early January.

MSDH reported a statewide total of 2,050 new cases and 45 deaths Friday. The seven-day average of daily cases is now 1,854.

Mississippi now has 261,165 total cases and 5,713 deaths.

A total of 343 new COVID-19 cases were reported in South Mississippi for a seven-day average of 335 daily cases. Harrison and Jackson counties reported more than 70 new cases each.

The six southern counties now have a total of 34,615 COVID-19 cases, or 13.25% of the statewide total.

Seven new deaths were reported for South Mississippi, for a total of 620. Only George County had no new deaths. Harrison County reported three deaths, with one death each in Hancock, Jackson, Pearl River and Stone.

Vaccine information and a link to set up appointments are available at covidvaccine.umc.edu or you can call 877-374-4991. Those 65 and older or with underlying health conditions are eligible for an appointment.

COVID-19 cases in South Mississippi

• George: 2,035 (8 new)
• Hancock: 2,884 (31 new)
• Harrison: 14,050 (74 new)
• Jackson: 10,729 (77 new)
• Pearl River: 3,422 (42 new)
• Stone: 1,495 (11 new)

Thursday, Jan. 22

Mississippi’s department of health on Thursday reported over 2,000 new cases of COVID-19 for the first time since Jan. 16.

The state reported 2,290 cases and 30 deaths, pushing the seven-day average for new cases to 1,896.

Five of the deaths took place in the state’s southernmost six counties, including three in Stone County.

There were two new deaths reported in Stone County on Thursday, and another added after a previously reported death in Copiah County was corrected to Stone. There have been 24 COVID-19 deaths and 1,484 cases in Stone County in the last year.

The other new deaths reported South Mississippi took place in Hancock and Pearl River.

Hospitalization numbers continue to show signs of a steady decline with 1,161 people hospitalized with confirmed cases of the coronavirus as of Jan. 19.

The 301 people in intensive care and 180 on ventilators are the lowest figures of 2021.

Vaccine information and a link to set up appointments are available at covidvaccine.umc.edu or you can call 877-374-4991. Those 65 and older or with underlying health conditions are eligible for an appointment.

South Mississippi COVID-19 totals

• George County – 2,027 (8 new cases)
• Hancock County – 2,853 (28 new cases)
• Harrison County – 13,876 (145 new cases)
• Jackson County – 10,652 (95 new cases)
• Pearl River County – 3,380 (51 new cases)
• Stone County – 1,484 (25 new cases)

Wednesday, Jan. 20

There are signs that Mississippi is reaching the end of a holiday surge in COVID-19 cases, but South Mississippi still reported 410 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday.

That figure is below the record of 542, but still far higher than the peaks during the summer surge.

The state health department reported 1,702 new cases statewide and 64 new deaths. Eleven of the deaths were reported in South Mississippi: five in Harrison County and three each in Jackson and Pearl River counties.

That increase brought the total number of deaths due to COVID-19 in the region to 608. South Mississippi surpassed 500 COVID-19 deaths on Jan. 1. It took 26 days for the region to go from 401 total deaths on Dec. 5 to 505 on Jan. 1, and now just 19 to surpass 600.

The most recent figures for test positivity rates by county are only up to date as of Jan. 9, but they show that the situation was worst in Jackson County, where 33.4% of people who took COVID-19 tests from Dec. 24 to Jan. 6 were positive.

Epidemiologists say that test positivity rate is an indicator of how widespread a disease is in a community. Rates above 5% indicate significant spread and the need for social distancing and restrictions on gatherings, the World Health Organization says.

No South Mississippi county had a positivity rate below 10%. Outside of Jackson County, rates ranged from 10.4% in George County to 16% in Stone County.

State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs tweeted Tuesday that hospitalization figures in the state were trending in the right direction.

Vaccine information and a link to set up appointments are available at covidvaccine.umc.edu or call 877-374-4991. Those 65 and older or with underlying health conditions are eligible for an appointment.

South Mississippi COVID-19 totals:

• George County — 2,019 (19 new cases)
• Hancock County — 2,825 (81 new cases)
• Harrison County — 13,731 (164 new cases)
• Jackson County — 10,557 (104 new cases)
• Pearl River County — 3,329 (28 new cases)
• Stone County — 1,459 (12 new cases)

Tuesday, Jan. 19

COVID-19 hospitalization numbers have dipped over the past week in Mississippi after hitting all-time highs after the Christmas holidays.

After hitting a high mark of 1,444 people hospitalized on Jan. 4 with confirmed cases of the coronavirus, that figure stood at 1,188 as of Jan. 17. While that number remains high, it has dropped by 217 over the last seven days.

There were 336 people in intensive care, including 193 on ventilators.

The state health department reported 1,193 new cases of COVID-19 and 51 deaths on Tuesday, including four in South Mississippi — one each in the counties of George, Harrison, Jackson and Pearl River.

Statewide, the seven-day average for new COVID-19 cases has dipped below 1,900 for the first time in 2021. The average is 1,881.

As of Jan. 17, there were 207,769 people in Mississippi who were presumed to have recovered from the coronavirus.

“We may be on the verge of starting to see some declines,” state epidemiologist Dr. Paul Byers said Monday at Gov. Tate Reeves’ press conference.

He said Mississippi is still seeing a high number of deaths, but the further it gets from the Christmas holidays, he said officials hope to see some moderation in that number and the number of hospitalizations.

However, Byers cautioned that, “we’re not out of the woods yet.” People still need to wear masks and use social distancing while the vaccine is rolling out across the state.

Vaccine information and a link to set up appointments are available at msdh.ms.gov or call 877-374-4991. Those 65 and older or with underlying health conditions are eligible for an appointment.

South Mississippi COVID-19 totals:

• George County — 1,998 (5 new cases)
• Hancock County — 2,744 (10 new cases)
• Harrison County — 13,567 (65 new cases)
• Jackson County — 10,453 (46 new cases)
• Pearl River County — 3,301 (4 new cases)
• Stone County — 1,447 (11 new cases)

Monday, Jan. 18

Vaccinations for COVID-19 continued across the Coast Monday as South Mississippi nears 100 coronavirus deaths so far in January.

Mississippi Department of Health reported Monday 1,457 new cases — the second straight day below 2,000. Sunday was the first time Mississippi’s average of new cases per day fell below 2,000 since Jan. 1.

The health department reported 3 additional deaths in Mississippi.

With one of those deaths in Stone County, 94 people have died so far this month in the six Coast counties.

Since the pandemic began 10 months ago, 193 residents of Harrison County have died from the coronavirus, 183 in Jackson County, 99 in Pearl River, 59 in Hancock, 38 in George and 21 in Stone.

Gov. Tate Reeves gave an update for Mississippi in a briefing Monday at 2:30 p.m.

The health department’s updated report Monday shows 372,825 does of vaccine have been distributed to Mississippi, and 114,947 doses have been administered and 9,719 second does have been given. To date, 71% of those who got the vaccine were white and 16% Black.

Information on the vaccine and a link to the appointment web portal can be found at msdh.gov or call 877-374-4991. Where vaccines are available, those age 65 an older or with underlying health conditions are eligible for an appointment.

Hospitalizations down:

With the decline in new cases is Mississippi, hospitalization are beginning to drop.

The latest numbers statewide on Jan. 17 show:

• 1,188 people hospitalized for the coronavirus, down from the high of 1,444 on Jan. 4
• 336 COVID-19 patients in ICU, down from the high of 358 on Jan. 5
• 193 patients on ventilators, down from 230 on Jan. 6

COVID-19 by the numbers in Mississippi:

▪ 253,932 total cases, 5,524 deaths to date

▪ 8.5% of state’s 2.98 million residents have tested positive

▪ 0.19% of state’s residents have died from COVID-19

▪ 2.18% of those who tested positive died from COVID-19

▪ 207,769 people are estimated to have recovered

▪ 25-39 age group has most cases (56,242)

▪ 65+ age group has most deaths (4,249)

▪ 8.6% of those who tested positive were hospitalized, 91.4% were not hospitalized

▪ 56.5% who tested positive were female, 43% male

▪ More males (2,768) died of COVID-19 than females (2,599)

▪ Mississippi has the 18th most cases of states per capita on Monday, with 8,483 per 100,000. North Dakota has the most at 12,580 and Vermont the fewest at 1,612.

South Mississippi:

Totals: 33,369 cases (13% of state total), 593 deaths (10.7% of state total) in an area with 16% of the state’s population.

The state reported 357 new cases in South Mississippi Monday.

Totals by county on Monday are:

• George — 1,993 (3 new)
• Hancock — 2,734 (69 new)
• Harrison — 13,502 (149 new)
• Jackson — 10,407 (104 new)
• Pearl River — 3,297 (19 new)
• Stone — 1,436 (13 new)

This story was originally published January 18, 2021 at 12:24 PM.