Tracking COVID-19: Mississippi sets another single-day record with 9,300 cases Friday
The Mississippi State Department of Health reported 9,300 new COVID-19 cases Friday, breaking the state's single-day reporting record for the third day in a row.
The previous record of 8,356 cases was reported by the department Thursday and 8,204 new COVID-19 cases were reported Wednesday, the third-highest case count.
The fourth-highest daily count was reported on Jan. 5 with 7,079 cases.
It is the latest COVID-19 surge in Mississippi. The omicron variant’s high transmissibility rate, the state’s low and sluggish vaccination rate and holiday gatherings served as a breeding ground for the rapidly spreading omicron variant, state health officials said.
On Friday, the state reported 19 new coronavirus-related deaths, 15 of which occurred between Jan. 2 and Jan. 13. Four additional deaths occurred between Dec. 27 and Dec. 30, according to death certificate reports and health department records.
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Since the virus hit the state in March 2020, a total of 634,628 COVID-19 cases and 10,625 coronavirus-related deaths have been reported.
Outbreaks in Mississippi’s long-term care facilities continue to proliferate since the omicron variant edged into the state. On Friday, the health department reported 298 of those outbreaks. Since March 2020, there have been 11,658 cases of the coronavirus in long-term care facilities and 2,119 deaths.
According to a New York Times database, at least 889,613 cases were reported in the United States on Thursday. During the past week, there has been an average of 803,736 cases per day, an increase of 133% from the average two weeks earlier.
Residents between the ages of 25 and 39 represent the largest portion of the infected population in the state with 145,518 cases.
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Among patients under 18, children between the ages of 11 and 17 have the highest infection rate, with 57,685 cases identified. The 65 and older age group has the highest total number of deaths with 7,329 reported.
According to health department data, at least 1,692,917 people have started the vaccination process in Mississippi as of Friday. Since December 2020, about 1,466,953 people have been fully immunized against COVID-19. At least 482,186 have received a third dose or booster shot of Pfizer or Moderna.
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Approximately 517,857 people are presumed recovered from the virus as of Monday, according to the health department's website.
Hinds County has the highest number of reported cases with 44,333; DeSoto County follows with 41,451 cases. Harrison County is reporting 41,378 cases. Jackson County is reporting 29,940 cases and Rankin County has 28,534 total cases.
Jackson metro area cases, deaths since March of 2020
Hinds County
Daily number of new deaths: 0
Daily number of new cases: 438
Total deaths: 665
Total cases: 44,333
Madison County
Daily number of new deaths: 0
Daily number of new cases: 204
Total deaths: 289
Total cases: 19,442
Rankin County
Daily number of new deaths: 0
Daily number of new cases: 252
Total deaths: 418
Total cases: 28,534
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: COVID Mississippi: 3 days in a row, state records highest case count
