New COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations down statewide; Warren County reports 12 new cases Friday

Across Mississippi, new COVID-19 cases stayed under 1,000 for the ninth consecutive day, and hospitalizations continued showing a downward trend.

In Warren County, the Mississippi State Department of Health reported 12 new COVID-19 cases Friday and no new deaths. The cumulative number of cases in the county to date is 1,293, and the county’s death toll is 46.

Statewide, MSDH reported 599 new COVID-19 cases Friday, bringing the total cumulative confirmed cases in Mississippi to 81,294. With the last seven days reporting fewer than 1,000 cases each, the seven-day average of new cases has dropped to 710.

MSDH reported Friday that an additional 14 Mississippians died of COVID-19 statewide, bringing the total number of deaths in the state to 2,413. The state’s rate of deaths to confirmed cases is about 3%.

Deaths can lag new cases by two weeks or more, which may be one reason deaths in the state had not risen dramatically until July 7 when 44 deaths were reported. The highest number of deaths in any one day was 67 reported Aug. 25. In addition, most new cases are seen in younger people recently, and they are more likely to survive the virus than those 65 and older. By far, the age group reporting the most cases in Mississippi are young people from 18 to 29 years old.

MSDH reported deaths in the following counties Friday:

Five confirmed COVID-19 related deaths between July 26 and Aug. 19 were identified from death certificate reports.

Deaths and new cases were reported as of 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 27. MSDH usually reports new statistics on the COVID-19 coronavirus each day based on the previous day’s testing and death reports.

The primary metric concerning state health officials are the numbers of people hospitalized, and that number rose steadily with the rise of new cases. On June 6, the number of Mississippians hospitalized with confirmed cases of COVID-19 was at 358. Hospitalizations nearly tripled by late July. They have leveled off in the past couple of weeks and are now dropping including critical cases and numbers of people requiring ventilators.

The number of Mississippians hospitalized for the virus as of 6 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 26, is 827, showing a clear downward trend after peaking in late July at more than 1,200. The number includes 696 with confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 131 people with suspected but unconfirmed cases. Of those with confirmed infections, 230 were critically ill and in intensive care units and 125 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 62,707 through Sunday, Aug. 23. This figure is updated weekly. It represents about 77.1% of the cumulative 81,294 cases reported as of Friday, Aug. 28.

The number of cases in Warren County three weeks ago, Friday, Aug. 7, was 1,055, therefore the estimated number of people presumed recovered in the county is 1,009, or about 78% of the 1,293 cumulative cases reported Friday, Aug. 28. The county has an estimated 238 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 tests) as of Thursday, Aug. 27, is 559,410 or about 18.8% of the state’s 2.976 million residents. The positivity rate (positive results to tests, seven-day average) was 18.1% Thursday, according to Johns Hopkins University, indicating Mississippi is not testing nearly enough, and results are probably an undercount of actual infections. The national rate is currently 5.9%, and a rate of 5% or less indicates adequate testing. Mississippi’s positivity rate has been the highest or among the highest in the nation for weeks.

The total number of outbreaks in long-term care facilities is 159 Friday. About 41%, or 989, of the state’s total deaths were people in long-term care facilities. Five of the 14 deaths reported Friday were in long-term care facilities.

In Warren County as of 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 20, MSDH reported that three long-term facilities were under investigation for active COVID-19 outbreaks:

• Shady Lawn had seven cases among staff, 32 cases among residents and nine resident deaths.
• The Bluffs had 15 cases among staff, 44 cases among residents and three resident deaths.
• Vicksburg Convalescent had 11 cases among staff, four cases among residents and no resident deaths.

A total of 22 deaths in the county were residents of LTC facilities.

For additional information, visit the MSDH website.