MSDH reports 91 COVID-19 deaths statewide Tuesday, another one-day record

The Mississippi State Department of Health reported another one-day record of COVID-19 deaths Tuesday with 91, including one in Warren County. The previous one-day record was set Dec. 30 with 88 deaths.

In the first five days of January, the state has reported 9,633 new cases. The state’s seven-day average of new cases is about 2,202 per day with 15,412 new cases reported, about 14% higher than a month ago.

Warren County’s 14-day total of new cases is 565 with a daily average of 40.4 cases. The seven-day average is over 44 a day, with 310 cases reported in the past seven days. The county is on the governor’s list of hot spots that include all but four of Mississippi’s 82 counties — Claiborne, Issaquena, Sharkey and Tunica — three of which neighbor Warren.

COVID-19 is one of the state’s leading causes of death at this time, according to State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs. To see other causes of death in the state, including deaths from flu and pneumonia, click here.

The huge number of cases means a corresponding rise in the number of hospitalizations in the state. More than 1,400 Mississippians are hospitalized for the virus, and hospitals across the state — including Merit Health River Region in Vicksburg — are reporting that no ICU beds are available for any seriously ill or injured person, not just COVID-19 patients.

State health officials expect cases, hospitalizations and deaths to go even higher this month after the Christmas and New Year holidays and are strongly urging Mississippians not to hold or attend any gatherings that include people not in their immediate families. In addition, they urge wearing a mask in public, keeping 6 feet of social distance and maintaining good hand hygiene.

Nationally, the cumulative cases in the U.S. have soared to more than 20.8 million, with some sources putting the figure as high as 21.4 million. Numbers of new infections, hospitalizations and deaths continue to rise although the rate of new cases seems to be slowing slightly.

The number of people who have died in the U.S. since the beginning of the crisis is about 353,730.

At least 2,048 people died of the virus Monday in the U.S., and at least 198,181 new cases were reported. Holiday closures with limited testing and uneven reporting likely contributed to the slight drop in new cases in the last 14 days, about 1%. The rate of deaths also dropped about 1% in the past two weeks; however, the number of people hospitalized across the nation continues to rise. About 128,200 people were in the hospital Monday for COVID-19, an increase of 10% in the past two weeks.

Health officials from coast to coast are bracing for yet another spike in cases, hospitalizations and deaths after the year-end holidays.

As of Jan. 1, 33 countries have reported the COVID-19 variant first reported in the U.K. Dec. 8. In the U.S., four states — Colorado, California, Florida and New York — have seen cases. The variant is more contagious by about half but does not appear to be more severe or deadly.

Local and statewide COVID-19 statistics for Tuesday, Jan. 5

In Warren County, MSDH reported 23 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday and one new death. The cumulative number of cases in Warren County to date is 2,914, and the county’s death toll is 80. The seven-day average of new cases in the county is 44.3 per day, more than double the average cases of a month ago.

Statewide, MSDH reported 1,767 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday, bringing the total cumulative confirmed cases in Mississippi to 225,444. The seven-day average of new cases is 2,201.7 per day, about 14% higher than the seven-day average a month ago. In January, the age group reporting the most cases in Mississippi are from 25 to 39 years old followed by those 50 to 64 years old.

MSDH reported Tuesday that 91 more Mississippians died of COVID-19 statewide, a new one-day record. The cumulative number of deaths in the state is 4,975. The state’s rate of deaths to confirmed cases is about 2.2%. This rate drops when the number of cases is going up faster than the number of deaths.

Deaths are a lagging indicator. The current surge began in Mississippi in late October, and the state saw record deaths in December and again in January; 85 cases were reported Dec. 29 and 91 cases Jan. 5. Nearly 1,000 deaths were reported in December.

Of the 91 deaths MSDH reported Tuesday, 76 occurred between Dec. 30 and Jan. 4 in the following counties:

An additional 15 COVID-19 related deaths occurred between Dec. 10 and Dec. 30 and were identified from death certificate reports.

New cases and deaths were reported to MSDH as of 6 p.m. Monday, Jan. 4. MSDH usually reports statistics on the COVID-19 coronavirus each day based on the previous day’s and death reports.

The primary metric concerning state health officials are the numbers of people hospitalized, and that number has risen steadily since Nov. 4, 2020. COVID-19 hospitalizations threaten the state’s health care system as never before.

The number of Mississippians hospitalized for the virus as of 6 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 3, was 1,432. The number includes 1,369 with confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 63 people with suspected but unconfirmed cases. Of those with confirmed infections, 337 were critically ill and in intensive care units and 205 were on ventilators.

Source: MSDH

MSDH has estimated the number of people who can be presumed recovered from COVID-19 in Mississippi. That number is 182,103 through Sunday, Jan. 3. It represents about 80.8% of the cumulative 225,444 cases reported as of Tuesday, Jan. 5.

The number of cumulative cases in Warren County three weeks ago, Tuesday, Dec. 15, was 2,187, therefore the estimated number of people presumed recovered in the county is 2,107, or about 72.3% of the 2,914 cumulative cases reported as of Tuesday, Jan. 5. The county has an estimated 727 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).

The total number of Mississippians tested for COVID-19 (PCR and antigen tests identifying current infections) as of Saturday, Jan. 2, is 1,822,215 or about 61.2% of the state’s 2.976 million residents. MSDH reports statewide test results about once a week. Without daily updated numbers of tests, it is impossible to accurately calculate Mississippi’s positivity rate (positive results to tests, seven-day average); however, the estimated rate was 20.1% Sunday, Dec. 27, according to Johns Hopkins University. The national rate was 13.6% Monday, and 5% or lower indicates adequate testing.

The total number of outbreaks in long-term care facilities is 227 Tuesday, a decrease of eight since Monday. About 35%, or 1,742, of the state’s total deaths were people in long-term care facilities. The cumulative number of COVID-19 cases in LTC facilities is 9,452 Tuesday, about 4.2% of the state’s total cases.

A total of 37 deaths in Warren County were residents of LTC facilities.

MSDH is no longer reporting outbreaks in individual long-term care facilities in Mississippi and has replaced that information with access to a database from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid. You can access and search the data by provider here. The latest data available is for the week ending Dec. 20.

For additional information, visit the MSDH website or call the COVID-19 hotline seven days a week from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. at 877-978-6453.