Influx of data reported from weekend delays COVID release from MS health department
The Mississippi State Department of Health pushed back their COVID-19 update on Monday, citing trouble processing the “large amount” of data received over the weekend.
In a tweet, the health department said the numbers should be compiled by Monday evening. MSDH typically publishes their COVID data via Twitter on weekday mornings. Monday updates include positives and hospitalizations from the previous Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
“MSDH continues to work with delays in processing a large amount of data received in the last few days in order to bring you Monday’s COVID-19 update. We hope to have the latest information available tonight,” MDSH tweeted.
Earlier Monday morning, the department tweeted that they expected to publish the data by afternoon. The influx of data comes as the state has seen enormous spikes in COVID numbers, rising as the rapidly transmissible omicron variant has become the dominant strain.
Over the past two-week period, almost 50,000 cases have occurred in the state, Mississippi State Epidemiologist Paul Byers said during a press conference on Friday.
Mississippi in recent days has consistently hit record numbers of single-day cases recorded since the delta variant’s fourth wave.
On Wednesday, the Mississippi Department of Health reported 6,592 new coronavirus cases, the most the state has seen in a single day since the start of the pandemic. On Friday, the state reported an additional 6,774 cases.
“Over the last several days, we’ve been reporting out over 6,000 to 7,000 additional cases on a daily basis,” Byers said on Friday.
This article is supported by the Journalism and Public Information Fund, a fund of the Gulf Coast Community Foundation.
