Public servants. Grandparents. New moms. 10,000 people have now died from COVID in MS.
Following a weekend of 34 newly reported COVID deaths, Mississippi on Monday hit 10,000 deaths from the virus — a grave benchmark well past initial Mississippi State Department of Health estimates.
On Monday, the state recorded 501,652 total cases, 10,024 total deaths, with 84,728 recorded cases and 1,430 cumulative deaths in the state’s six southernmost counties since the pandemic began. South Mississippi saw about 14.3% of the state’s total death count.
The Sun Herald asked South Mississippians to share to share anecdotes of their loved ones or neighbors who have died from COVID since its onset in March 2020. New mothers, ardent public servants and cherished grandparents were just some of the losses Coastal Mississippi has sustained.
“She was a beautiful soul who loved freely and was looking forward to the birth of her first child in a few months,” Biloxi resident Dana Decoteau said of her loved one who passed from COVID-19.
Saucier resident Bonnie Hilley recorded that she lost her son, Gulfport’s District Fire Chief Mark Hilley. The 53-year-old served more than 20 years with the department, was a battalion chief for Harrison County Fire Rescue and was a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps.
Pass Christian resident Molly Russell lost her grandmother, Janice.
“Mimi was a dedicated grandmother. She worshiped her grandsons. She didn’t deserve to die alone.”
COVID deaths surpass health department prediction
During a Mississippi State Medical Association round table discussion earlier in October, State Medical Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs said the health department had originally predicted about 3,000 COVID deaths in Mississippi, based on a model they used for the flu. The state surpassed the prediction about a year ago, in October 2020.
What the health department hadn’t anticipated, Dobbs said, was vaccine hesitancy due to misinformation circulated online. Lack of vaccination due to scientifically disproven doubts have accounted for the overflow death counts, he said.
“What we didn’t put into the model is all this other stuff, right? Social media. We didn’t put in there this sort of cultural phenomenon of denialism of the pandemic — that’s really what the challenge has been,” he said.
‘She was gone’
In the Sun Herald’s survey of the community, some shared details of their loved ones’ COVID experiences. Vanessa Quicksall of Biloxi said her mother was taken down by COVID “incredibly fast,” and was on a ventilator for 28 days and then some following a tracheotomy.
“She was improving day by day and we thought she was on the path to coming home. She took a downturn and showed signs of an infection. In a matter of 36 hours, she was gone,” Quicksall said.
“My mom was a bright light to everyone she met and never met a stranger. She was the most giving person you’d ever met. Her passing was completely untimely and this virus stole many years that we had to look forward to with our mom.”
Others reported attributes or future hopes for their loved ones.
“Gerry was my husband’s brother. He was just getting his life back together after a painful divorce,” Leslie Seymour, of D’Iberville, said
Adam Jefferson of Gulfport remembered a friend named Tyrone.
“He never met a stranger, he would help anybody in need of his services no matter what time of the day.”
This story was originally published October 25, 2021 at 5:35 PM.
