MS sets another new daily record for COVID cases as omicron spreads. Here’s Coast data.
Mississippi set another record for new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, topping Wednesday’s total by nearly 500, as the highly-contagious omicron variant speeds through the state.
On Wednesday, the Mississippi State Department of Health reported 6,592 new cases — the highest number since the start of the pandemic in March 2000.
Thursday’s new case total from the health department is 7,079, surpassing the one-day record by 487 new cases.
The state had eight new deaths reported — with zero for the second straight day in South Mississippi.
The six southern counties saw fewer new cases reported Thursday than Wednesday, dropping to 1,057 from 1,216 on Wednesday. The numbers fluctuate from day to day as people get tested and those tests are reported.
Those experiencing symptoms are experiencing waits to get tested and no self-test kits available at local stores.
The health department didn’t report new cases over the New Year’s weekend, from Dec. 31 through Jan. 2. Since Monday, Mississippi has seen 36,036 new cases and South Mississippi 4,737 new cases with another day to go in the week’s reports.
The last time the numbers were this high in South Mississippi was in mid-August, when the delta variant was at its peak on the Coast.
Mississippi reported 61 additional deaths this week, with 27 of those from reviews of prior death certificates.
The first omicron case in the United States wasn’t seen until December, but it quickly became the most dominant variant.
In Mississippi:
▪ Dec. 11 — 93% of cases were Delta, 3% Omicron
▪ Jan. 5 — 22% of cases are Delta, 73% Omicron
Nursing homes are seeing a resurgence in cases after the holidays. Two long-term care deaths among patients or staff in long term care facilities in Hancock County were reported this week.
Now that schools are back in session after the holiday break, they will again report outbreaks weekly to the state health department.
