Mississippi reported a spike in new COVID-19 coronavirus cases Wednesday after a week of reporting lower-than-average numbers of new cases.

On Wednesday, the Mississippi Department of Health reported 1,348 new coronavirus cases reported in the last 24 hours.

The state also reported 36 more deaths Wednesday from the prior day. Twelve deaths reported on Wednesday actually occurred between July 22 and August 14, the state health officials said.

The newly reported deaths make August the second-deadliest month for Mississippi since the pandemic began in March.

Through Wednesday’s statistics, 503 deaths were reported in August from COVID-19.

July is still the deadliest month on record with 593 reported deaths. However August appears on track to eclipse that number as the daily average number of deaths reported in August is more than 38-percent higher than July’s daily average.

In total, 74,555 cases have been found in the state since March. The state believes more than 56,000 of those cases have recovered.

A total of 2,163 people in Mississippi have died as a result of coronavirus, the state reported.

The 7-day, daily average of new cases rose to 740 with Wednesday’s update.

The 14-day, daily average rose to 794 cases per day.