The number of Mississippians hospitalized with the COVID-19 coronavirus ticked down slightly Saturday the state reported but remained at near-record levels as the state hit another new record in the two-week average of new daily cases of the virus.

The Mississippi State Health Department reported Thursday that five of the state’s biggest hospitals had no available ICU beds and several more hospitals were near-maximum capacity as well. On Friday, the state said it would halt non-emergency surgeries for at least 10 days to free up more hospital capacity.

The state reported Saturday 963 patients were hospitalized with either confirmed COVID-19 or suspected COVID-19. The state said 202 patients were in ICU beds and 107 required mechanical ventilation. The hospitalization record was set Friday when 981 people were hospitalized.

The Mississippi State Department of Health reported Saturday an additional 797 new COVID-19 coronavirus cases confirmed in the last 24 hours bringing the total cases to 35,419.

The state estimates more than 22,000 of those cases have fully recovered.

The state also reported 15 new deaths Saturday attributed to the virus bringing the total death toll to 1,230.

Mississippi’s 7-day average of new cases dropped to 677 and the 14-day average of daily new cases rose to 706, which was an all-time high.

In the last 14 days 195 deaths have been attributed to the virus. That’s the highest 14-day total of deaths since June 10.

Mississippi’s death toll from coronavirus includes 593 people from long-term care facilities, representing approximately 48.2 percent of all deaths.

Totals of all reported cases since March 11, including those in long-term care (LTC) facilities.

County	Total Cases	Total Deaths	Total LTC Facility Cases	Total LTC Facility Deaths
Adams	351	20	44	11
Alcorn	100	2	1	1
Amite	110	3	13	2
Attala	384	24	89	19
Benton	46	0	1	0
Bolivar	405	18	37	6
Calhoun	164	5	23	4
Carroll	181	11	45	9
Chickasaw	297	19	35	11
Choctaw	75	4	0	0
Claiborne	301	11	43	8
Clarke	223	25	19	9
Clay	258	11	2	1
Coahoma	222	6	1	0
Copiah	653	15	30	3
Covington	435	5	3	0
Desoto	1900	19	21	5
Forrest	993	43	95	29
Franklin	54	2	3	1
George	116	3	1	0
Greene	113	10	34	6
Grenada	594	9	43	5
Hancock	144	13	8	4
Harrison	1136	16	98	9
Hinds	2908	51	151	17
Holmes	586	41	98	20
Humphreys	163	10	18	6
Issaquena	10	1	0	0
Itawamba	146	8	34	7
Jackson	775	19	48	6
Jasper	277	6	1	0
Jefferson	126	3	2	0
Jefferson Davis	120	4	3	1
Jones	1203	49	157	34
Kemper	184	14	38	9
Lafayette	497	4	42	1
Lamar	534	7	3	2
Lauderdale	963	81	202	52
Lawrence	209	2	0	0
Leake	635	20	3	0
Lee	612	22	66	15
Leflore	531	56	173	41
Lincoln	529	35	115	27
Lowndes	548	13	25	6
Madison	1446	38	136	19
Marion	327	12	15	2
Marshall	277	3	6	0
Monroe	456	35	108	29
Montgomery	171	3	0	0
Neshoba	1045	77	106	30
Newton	375	10	7	1
Noxubee	278	8	15	3
Oktibbeha	611	28	132	18
Panola	448	6	2	1
Pearl River	288	32	50	12
Perry	87	4	0	0
Pike	499	20	42	10
Pontotoc	346	6	3	1
Prentiss	120	4	24	3
Quitman	99	1	0	0
Rankin	1087	15	53	0
Scott	819	15	14	2
Sharkey	48	0	1	0
Simpson	393	3	3	0
Smith	246	12	52	8
Stone	74	2	2	1
Sunflower	477	8	1	0
Tallahatchie	195	4	3	1
Tate	352	13	27	8
Tippah	145	11	0	0
Tishomingo	97	1	2	0
Tunica	123	3	12	2
Union	252	11	20	8
Walthall	262	7	11	1
Warren	594	21	39	9
Washington	722	13	18	4
Wayne	562	18	37	4
Webster	134	11	52	10
Wilkinson	98	9	5	2
Winston	295	11	38	8
Yalobusha	207	9	35	7
Yazoo	553	6	20	2
Total	35,419	1,230	2,959	593