Mississippi state health officials reported another record high number of new COVID-19 coronavirus cases Friday as the Thanksgiving spike that health officials feared may be starting to be realized.

The Mississippi State Department of Health reported 2,480 new cases on Friday, bringing the total cases since the pandemic began in March to 161,516. Prior to this week, Mississippi had never reported daily new cases of 2,000 or more. Friday’s reporting marked the third day in a row of cases above 2,000.

The latest numbers pushed Mississippi’s 7-day and 14-day, daily averages of new cases into record territory as well, with 22,726 new cases detected in the last 14 days. By comparison, that’s more than were detected in the entire month of October.

The high numbers of cases have also led to record numbers of COVID-19 hospitalizations with the state reporting 1,052 patients with confirmed COVID-19 in state hospitals on Wednesday.

Mississippi State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs issued a directive Wednesday asking all Mississippians to avoid any social gatherings to help the state get the virus under control and not cause further stress on the state’s hospital system.

Of the total cases, the state believes approximately 128,746 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.

The state reported 37 new deaths Friday. A total of 3,916 Mississippians have died from the virus, the state reported.

The 7-day, daily average of new cases rose to 2,019 with Friday’s update, setting a new 7-day record high. Just 30 days ago, on Nov. 4, the 7-day average was 665 cases per day, meaning the statistic is up more than 200 percent during that time.

The 14-day, daily average of new cases rose to 1,623 on Friday, also a new all-time record high.