This corner of Mississippi has the highest percentage of COVID-19 cases in long-term care facilities
Published 1:46 pm Tuesday, May 5, 2020
Editor’s note: The following story incorrectly identified the county in East Central Mississippi with the highest number of cases in long-term facilities, which is Lauderdale County. The story has been corrected.
Counties in the northeast corner of the Mississippi are seeing a high percentage of COVID-19 cases in long-term care facilities compared to the rest of the state.
Overall, the number of virus cases in Mississippi’s long-term care facilities is small. Tuesday’s numbers reveal that 11.5% of cases in the state are in long-term care facilities.
While most of the state’s 82 counties are seeing similar numbers, current numbers from the Mississippi State Department of Health reveal a different story in northeast Mississippi.
Seven of the state’s top 10 counties with the highest percentage of cases in long-term facilities are in the northeast corner of the state.
Long-term care facilities like nursing homes are considered high-risk locations because their residents are older or in poor health. Even one case of COVID-19 in these facilities among residents or employees is considered an outbreak.
MSDH says long-term care facilities include nursing homes, intermediate care facilities for individuals with intellectual disabilities, personal care homes, assisted living facilities, long-term acute care facilities, and psychiatric or chemical dependency residential treatment centers.
Prentiss leads the state with 60.6% of its 33 cases in long-term care facilities. Not far behind are Itawamba County (50% of it 64 cases), Monroe County (49.7% of its 177 cases) and Calhoun County (39.7% of its 58 cases).
Monroe County has the second-highest number of virus cases in long-term care facilities in the state with 88 cases.
Lauderdale County in East Central Mississippi is the only county to report a higher number of cases with 104 cases in long-term care.
The top ten counties with the highest percentage of long-term care COVID-19 cases are:
- Prentiss County – 60.6% of cases
- Itawamba County – 50%
- Monroe County – 49.7%
- Calhoun County – 39.7%
- Grenada County – 38.9%
- Lafayette County – 37.5%
- Tunica County – 33.3%
- Lincoln County – 31.6%
- Chickasaw County – 31.3%
- Union County – 27.8%
More than a quarter of COVID-19 cases reported in long-term care facilities are in the 14 counties that make up the northeast corner of the state.
| County | Total Cases | Total LTC Facility Cases | % of cases |
| Prentiss | 33 | 20 | 60.6% |
| Itawamba | 64 | 32 | 50.0% |
| Monroe | 177 | 88 | 49.7% |
| Calhoun | 58 | 23 | 39.7% |
| Grenada | 36 | 14 | 38.9% |
| Lafayette | 96 | 36 | 37.5% |
| Tunica | 36 | 12 | 33.3% |
| Lincoln | 155 | 49 | 31.6% |
| Chickasaw | 80 | 25 | 31.3% |
| Union | 36 | 10 | 27.8% |
| Attala | 137 | 38 | 27.7% |
| Smith | 86 | 23 | 26.7% |
| Carroll | 111 | 29 | 26.1% |
| Kemper | 79 | 20 | 25.3% |
| Leflore | 175 | 42 | 24.0% |
| Lauderdale | 436 | 104 | 23.9% |
| Humphreys | 26 | 6 | 23.1% |
| Pearl River | 183 | 41 | 22.4% |
| Marion | 76 | 14 | 18.4% |
| Pontotoc | 22 | 4 | 18.2% |
| Clarke | 67 | 12 | 17.9% |
| Adams | 151 | 27 | 17.9% |
| Holmes | 168 | 27 | 16.1% |
| Oktibbeha | 57 | 9 | 15.8% |
| Jackson | 270 | 39 | 14.4% |
| Madison | 298 | 40 | 13.4% |
| Bolivar | 112 | 15 | 13.4% |
| Tishomingo | 8 | 1 | 12.5% |
| Neshoba | 243 | 27 | 11.1% |
| Lowndes | 65 | 7 | 10.8% |
| Noxubee | 92 | 9 | 9.8% |
| Hancock | 68 | 6 | 8.8% |
| Forrest | 259 | 22 | 8.5% |
| Benton | 12 | 1 | 8.3% |
| Pike | 160 | 13 | 8.1% |
| Jones | 193 | 15 | 7.8% |
| Wilkinson | 71 | 5 | 7.0% |
| Warren | 88 | 6 | 6.8% |
| Lee | 75 | 5 | 6.7% |
| Washington | 78 | 4 | 5.1% |
| Jefferson Davis | 45 | 2 | 4.4% |
| Wayne | 25 | 1 | 4.0% |
| Simpson | 53 | 2 | 3.8% |
| Amite | 32 | 1 | 3.1% |
| Hinds | 565 | 16 | 2.8% |
| Rankin | 221 | 6 | 2.7% |
| Scott | 404 | 9 | 2.2% |
| Tate | 45 | 1 | 2.2% |
| Lawrence | 57 | 1 | 1.8% |
| Copiah | 126 | 2 | 1.6% |
| Newton | 106 | 1 | 0.9% |
| Lamar | 125 | 1 | 0.8% |
| Harrison | 186 | 1 | 0.5% |
| Desoto | 308 | 1 | 0.3% |
| Alcorn | 10 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Choctaw | 14 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Claiborne | 33 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Clay | 57 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Coahoma | 70 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Covington | 84 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Franklin | 17 | 0 | 0.0% |
| George | 14 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Greene | 6 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Jasper | 64 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Jefferson | 24 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Leake | 257 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Marshall | 48 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Montgomery | 47 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Panola | 40 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Perry | 31 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Quitman | 16 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Sharkey | 5 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Stone | 22 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Sunflower | 60 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Tallahatchie | 12 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Tippah | 58 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Walthall | 35 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Webster | 21 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Winston | 52 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Yalobusha | 21 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Yazoo | 154 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Total | 8,207 | 965 | 11.8% |
