Schools in nearly half of Mississippi’s 82 counties have reported coronavirus cases in teachers, staff or students, the state reported Friday.

In total, 39 counties are reporting COVID-19 coronavirus cases, Mississippi State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs said Friday.

He said the cases included 109 total cases in teachers or school staff and 69 students.

Beyond the positive cases, 254 teachers or staff members and 489 students are quarantined after exposure to people who have tested positive for the virus from those teachers, staff or students.

Dobbs also said the state had recently recorded two deaths of younger people — a teenager who Dobbs said had no underlying medical conditions and a young pregnant woman who was in her early 20s.

“Although severe illness and death in young people is unlikely, it does occur,” Dobbs said.

Dobbs said he would not be surprised if soon all counties will be reporting cases from school because of the widespread community spread of the virus.

Gov. Tate Reeves said most of the cases found in schools so far have come to school with the virus, but didn’t contract it at school.

“The vast majority of these cases are kids and/or adults that got the virus not while at school but in the community,” Dobbs said. “While there are risks for transmission in our schools … there are also risks if they’re not at school.

“Most of these that we have were not transmitted within the walls of their school but in the confines of their community.”

The counties where coronavirus has been reported in schools includes:

Adams
Alcorn
Bolivar
Calhoun
Chickasaw
Choctaw
Coahoma
Copiah
Forrest
George
Hancock
Harrison
Jackson
Jones
Lafayette
Lauderdale
Lawrence
Lee
Leflore
Lowndes
Marion
Montgomery
Neshoba
Panola
Pearl River
Pike
Pontotoc
Quitman
Rankin
Scott
Smith
Sunflower
Tallahatchie
Union
Washington
Webster
Wilkinson
Winston
Yalobusha