7-day takeaway: Mississippi reports 48,572 new COVID-19 cases, 101 deaths
Each week, COVID-19 data looks different.
The Clarion Ledger regularly publishes the number of Mississippi COVID-19 cases, deaths, vaccinations and other relevant pandemic health news in efforts to keep residents informed. Here are the findings from state officials from Jan. 13 to 19.
COVID-19 case counts and related deaths are pulled from the Mississippi State Department of Health.
Last week: Over 44,000 new COVID-19 cases reported in Mississippi in a single week
As omicron surges, federal government offers free at-home tests
The recent surge in coronavirus cases, fueled by the highly contagious omicron variant, has resulted in increased hospitalizations across Mississippi.
In the past two weeks, hospitalizations nearly doubled. On Tuesday, the state health department's website showed 1,461 people were hospitalized with the coronavirus, that number is up from the 676 on Jan. 4.
About 288 people were in intensive care units around the state on Tuesday and 142 were on ventilators.
The all-time highest COVID-19 hospitalization rate in Mississippi was 1,667 on Aug. 19.
The spike in cases and hospitalizations in Mississippi that make it difficult to find same-day testing it's not an experience unique to the state. To address the testing shortage and high case counts across the nation, the federal government is offering free at-home test kits that can be ordered online.
The federal government began accepting orders Tuesday at covidtests.gov. Each residential address is allowed four at-home tests, which are expected to ship in late January.
How-to: Free at-home COVID tests can now be ordered via the US Postal Service
COVID-19 cases in Mississippi
Within the week, 48,572 COVID-19 cases were recorded, up about 10% from last week. It averages nearly 7,000 new cases a day.
Read more: COVID cases are at an all-time high in Mississippi. Are vaccination rates following?
COVID-19 deaths in Mississippi
There were 101 coronavirus-related deaths reported from Jan. 13 to 19, up 15 more deaths from last week.
Vaccinations
The state has administered around 3.6 million doses as of Thursday. The Mississippi report shows a fully vaccinated rate of 45%, which is behind the nation's average of 63%.
About 36% of the state's 12 to 15-year-olds are fully vaccinated, and about 5% of Mississippi's 5 to 11-year-olds have had both doses.
COVID-19 in Mississippi schools
Of 678 schools reporting from 71 of Mississippi's 82 counties, there were 9,642 new COVID-19 cases in Mississippi students statewide from Jan. 10 to 14, according to the Mississippi State Department of Health's report Wednesday.
Over 23,000 students and 1,602 teachers were quarantined due to exposure to the coronavirus and 2,465 teachers and staff tested positive.
COVID in schools: More than 23,500 Mississippi students quarantined Jan. 10-14 due to COVID-19 exposure
Have a health story? Or a health-related tip? Send it along to shaselhorst@gannett.com, on Twitter at @HaselhorstSarah or call 601-331-9307.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Mississippi reports 48,572 new COVID-19 cases, 101 deaths in a week
