Eleventh COVID-19 death reported in Warren County Sunday

Saturday, the Mississippi State Department of Health reported another two confirmed COVID-19 cases in Warren County, bringing the cumulative number of cases in the county to 201. Sunday, the agency reported another five cases and one death.

As of Sunday, the number of cases in the county is 206. The county’s death toll of 11 people including seven residents of one long-term care facility.

MSDH began reporting the names of long-term care facilities with active COVID-19 outbreaks across the state Wednesday.

In Warren County, those facilities are:

• Heritage House Nursing Center: employee cases 14; resident cases 38; resident deaths 7
• Shady Lawn Health and Rehabilitation: employee cases 1; resident cases 0; resident deaths 0
• The Bluffs Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center; employee cases 2; resident cases 0; resident deaths 0

Statewide, MSDH reports 265 new COVID-19 cases Saturday and 236 cases Sunday, bringing the total cumulative confirmed cases in Mississippi to 17,270.

MSDH also reports eight Mississippians died of COVID-19 statewide Saturday and six Sunday, bringing the number of deaths in the state to 817.

COVID-19 deaths are reported in the following counties Saturday and Sunday:

Deaths and new cases were reported as of 6 p.m. Friday, June 5, for Saturday’s update and Saturday, June 6, for Sunday’s update. MSDH reports new statistics on the COVID-19 coronavirus each morning based on the previous day’s testing and death reports.

MSDH has estimated the number of people who can be presumed recovered from COVID-19 in Mississippi. That number is 11,203 through Sunday, May 31. This figure will be updated weekly. It represents about 64.9% of the cumulative 17,270 cases reported as of Sunday, June 7.

Based on the number of cases reported Sunday, May 17, in Warren County (133), the estimated number of people presumed recovered is 122, or about 64.6%, with 73 active cases.

These estimates are based on MSDH’s guidelines for calculating estimated recoveries when hospitalizations are not known, using the number of cases 21 days ago, less known outcomes (deaths).

As reported Sunday, 357 Mississippians are hospitalized with confirmed cases of COVID-19, and another 228 patients are hospitalized with suspected infections. Of those hospitalized with confirmed infections, 133 are critically ill and in intensive care units and 69 are on ventilators.

Source: MSDH

Long-term care facilities

Many of the new cases and deaths in Mississippi are reflected in cases and deaths in the state’s long-term care facilities. The number of individual COVID-19 cases in long-term care facilities total 2,032 Thursday. Resident deaths total 425. About 11.8% of the state’s cases and 52% of the state’s deaths from the virus are people from long-term care facilities. The number of active outbreaks under investigation is 113.

Lauderdale County in East Central Mississippi leads the state with the highest number of cases and deaths in long-term care facilities with 177 cases and 45 deaths Sunday. It also has among the highest total COVID-19 cases and the highest number of deaths reported in the state with 779 cases and 70 deaths as of Sunday.

Three counties, Lauderdale, Jones and Madison, have 100 or more LTC cases. Seven counties have more than 20 LTC deaths: Lauderdale, Forrest, LeFlore, Lincoln, Neshoba Monroe and Jones.

Mississippi is paying special attention to any outbreaks in these facilities. Even one case is a long-term care facility is considered an outbreak because of the ages and poor health of many residents. Long-term care facilities include nursing homes, personal care homes, assisted living facilities and intermediate care facilities for individuals with intellectual disabilities. Cases in long-term acute care facilities, and psychiatric or chemical dependency residential treatment centers are now being counted separately.

COVID-19 in Mississippi counties

Neighboring Hinds County, the state’s virus epicenter, is reporting 1,137 cases Sunday and 26 deaths. Thirteen of the deaths in Hinds were residents in long-term care facilities, and 85 cases in long-term care facilities are under investigation.

In other neighboring counties:

Yazoo County reports 301 cases Sunday and five deaths. Yazoo is reporting 11 cases under investigation and two deaths in long-term care facilities.

Claiborne County reports 120 cases and six deaths Sunday. Five deaths were residents in a long-term care facility and total of 42 cases in a long-term care facility are reported. Claiborne County Senior Care is the site of 11 employee and 40 resident cases plus 4 resident deaths.

Sharkey County reports seven cases, no deaths and no outbreaks in long-term care facilities.

Issaquena County remains the only county in the state without any reported cases.

In all, 49 Mississippi counties now report more than 100 cases each, and 31 counties report 200 or more. Eleven counties report more than 400 cases each: Hinds, Lauderdale, Madison, Neshoba, Scott, Jones, Forrest, Desoto, Rankin, Holmes and Leake. Only Sharkey and Issaquena counties report fewer than 10 cases.

Seven counties report no deaths from the virus. The following 28 counties report 10 or more deaths:

COVID-19 Demographics: race, gender and age

Cases and deaths from the virus are heavily skewed toward African Americans, and MSDH is reporting racial breakdowns of each county’s statistics, available on its website. As of Sunday, 59.6%. of cases and 52.6% of COVID-19 deaths in Mississippi were among African Americans.

COVID-19 cases are also skewed toward women, with 58.7% of cases among women.

Almost all the COVID-19 deaths in Mississippi occurred among people with underlying health conditions, including obesity, lung disease and diabetes. The health of African Americans is contributing to their higher rate of infection and death from COVID-19.

All age groups have been affected by the disease, including children under 18, with 1,164 cumulative cases as of Sunday, including 77 cases in infants less than 1 year old. Twenty-seven young people were hospitalized with the virus, but no death among juveniles have been reported in Mississippi.

Deaths and hospitalizations from the virus occur most frequently among those 60 and older. As of Sunday, 1,531 of Mississippi’s cumulative 2,522 hospitalizations, or 60.7%, were among people over 60, and 86.8% of the state’s deaths (709) have been people over 60.

Hospitalizations

As of Sunday, 357 Mississippians are hospitalized with confirmed cases of COVID-19, and another 228 patients are hospitalized with suspected infections. Of those hospitalized with confirmed infections, 133 are critically ill and in intensive care units and 69 are on ventilators.

Mississippi’s rate of hospitalizations for those diagnosed with COVID-19 is below the national average. From a high of more than 30%, the rate stands at 15.9% as of Sunday. The national average for hospitalizations has seen a steady rise and stands at 82 per 100,000 for the week ending May 30, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; however, the rate skyrockets to 126.2 per 100,000 for those 65 and older.

Testing

The number of COVID-19 tests performed in Mississippi as of May 30 is 203,127. About 8.5% of the tests had a positive result based on the total number of confirmed cases in the state. As more asymptomatic people are tested, the actual rate of infection will become clear. As of May 30, Mississippi has tested about 6.4% of the state’s 3.15 million people.

Anyone with symptoms of fever, severe cough or severe chest pains – especially those who are older or in poor health – should arrange for testing with their doctor or one of the many health care providers now performing testing, although not having a fever may not eliminate you from being tested. Health care providers can assess your health history and symptoms and perform testing for COVID-19 as needed. MSDH is also helping conduct free drive-up testing sites in many parts of the state. Always call ahead to the testing provider for instructions on safely being examined before you visit for your test.

Find a COVID-19 testing provider near you

For more information, visit the MSDH website or call the hotline at 877-978-6453, available seven days a week from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.

Totals of reported confirmed cases and deaths since March 11, including those in long-term care facilities, reported Sunday, June 7: