Mississippi reported a near-record high number of COVID-19 deaths Tuesday as hospitalization numbers also continue to climb to near-record highs as well.

This comes days ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday causing state and national health officials to be fearful that the worst of the pandemic will come in the weeks after the holiday if people are not careful.

“As we prepare for Thanksgiving, we must remember how dangerous COVID can be for middle and older age groups.,” Mississippi State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs wrote on social media. “(Approximately) 12% of those diagnosed with COVID (over) 65 years of age have died from COVID. Plan carefully. Keep it small (and preferably outdoors).”

The Mississippi State Department of Health reported 665 new cases on Tuesday, bringing the total cases since the pandemic began in March to 144,544.

Of the total cases, the state believes approximately 121,637 have recovered and while many people who are infected with the virus may only have moderate or even no visible symptoms, others can get gravely ill and die as a result.

For the last several days the rising numbers of COVID-19 cases have caused stress on the state’s hospitals with a number of hospitals either at capacity or near-capacity in regular rooms and many reporting no ICU beds available.

The state reported that on Monday state hospitals were treating 1,014 patients that had either tested positive for COVID-19 or were suspected of having COVID, but had not been tested. Of those 910 patients had tested positive for the virus.

On July 30, the state had a peak of 989 positive COVID patients hospitalized.

Over the last 14 days, approximately 16,675 Mississippians have tested positive for the virus. Tuesday’s 14-day average was at the highest level since August 3. The record, 14-day high for total new cases occurred on August 1 when the level reached just about 18,000 cases.

The state reported 53 new deaths Tuesday. Some of the deaths reported Tuesday actually occurred in October, but were discovered through death certificate reviews. A total of 3,729 Mississippians have died from the virus, the state reported.

The number of deaths reported in November, 397, has already outpaced October, 369, with another week left in the month.

The 7-day, daily average of new cases dipped slightly to 1,249 with Tuesday’s update.

The 14-day, daily average of new cases dipped slightly to 1,191 on Tuesday. That statistic was the highest level since August 4 when the average was also 1,191.