1,000 people in South MS have now died of COVID, state says. Is July 4 spike starting?
One person died in Stone County between July 2 and 4, becoming the 1,000th person to die of the coronavirus in the six counties of South Mississippi.
Eleven more people across the state were reported dead of COVID-19 on Wednesday, and 10 of them were unvaccinated, State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs tweeted.
It’s been nearly 15 months since the first case of the coronavirus was announced in Mississippi on March 9, 2020. On average, 66.7 people died each of those months, although there were many more deaths from November through January than during the other months of the pandemic
The peak came on Jan. 12, when 19 deaths were reported in the six southern counties by Mississippi State Department of Health.
In some cases, total deaths included those discovered after the health department review of death certificates and medical records.
South Mississippi’s six counties has about 17% of the state’s population and 13% of the state’s deaths.
Since people became vaccinated, the death rate has fallen substantially. Instead of 19 deaths in a single day, South Mississippi has seen 18 total deaths in the 48 days from May 21 to July 7.
July 4 COVID case spike could be coming
As more people were vaccinated, the state health department began releasing the daily counts of new cases and deaths only on weekdays, beginning April 24.
Total new cases each week since then ranged from a low of 166 new cases and no deaths the first week in June in South Mississippi to a high last week of 260 new cases and 5 deaths.
A report released Wednesday by the health department shows 175 people were hospitalized statewide with the coronavirus on July 6, a jump of 30 patients in one day day.
The number of coronavirus patients in intensive care at Mississippi hospitals jumped to 50 from 35 the previous day.
The report said the Delta variant of COVID-19 is “rapidly infecting Mississippians, and increasing hospitalizations for COVID-19. Vaccination is an essential defense against this highly infectious variant.”
More than 985,000 people in the state have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, but that is still the lowest rate in the United States.
Health officials warned that gathering at barbecues and parties during the July 4 weekend could increase the rates, as in did in 2020.
Sun Herald reporter Anita Lee contributed to this article.
This story was originally published July 7, 2021 at 1:19 PM.
