COVID hospitalizations in MS have increased by over 1,000% over the course of 45 days
COVID-19 numbers in Mississippi are quickly nearing those of the January peak of the pandemic, and there has been a major increase in the number of serious cases of the coronavirus in the state.
With 3,164 new cases reported Thursday, it marked just the fourth time there has been a single-day report over 3,000 cases since the pandemic first reached Mississippi in March of 2020.
“That’s almost entirely attributable to the delta variant,” State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs said. “Delta is sweeping over Mississippi like a tsunami.
“If you look at the trajectory, there’s not any real evidence of a leveling off or a decrease in cases.”
The number of serious cases of the coronavirus in the state have surged sharply over the last six weeks. There were 178 new COVID patients admitted to Mississippi hospitals on Wednesday, putting the number of confirmed COVID hospitalizations at 1,147.
That number dropped to as low as 91 on June 21 after hitting a high mark of 1,444 in January.
This means confirmed COVID hospitalizations in Mississippi have increased by 1,160% over the course of 45 days.
“We’ve seen massive increases in hospitalizations,” Dobbs said. “We’re averaging 144 new hospitalizations a day (over a 7-day period).
“A majority of our hospitals are at zero capacity in their intensive care units. Almost all of them are using emergency rooms as accessory intensive care units. It’s hard to take care of folks.”
As of Aug. 4, there were 299 COVID patients in intensive care in Mississippi hospitals, including 150 on ventilators.
Dobbs continues to urge Mississippians to receive the vaccine.
“As we’ve seen before, the majority of cases are in the unvaccinated,” Dobbs said. “Our most recent numbers show 97 percent of all cases are among unvaccinated people. Eighty-nine percent of our hospitalizations are unvaccinated and 85 percent of our deaths are unvaccinated.”
With only 36.1 percent of ages 18-64 in Mississippi fully vaccinated, the state ranks second to last in the nation in that category. Only Alabama ranks worse at 35.7, according to data from the Mayo Clinic.
This story was originally published August 5, 2021 at 10:25 AM.
