Mississippi’s latest surge in new COVID-19 coronavirus cases worsened Tuesday with another record broken, and the state’s top health officer urging people to avoid social interactions in an effort to slow the surge.

The Mississippi State Department of Health reported 1,732 new cases on Tuesday, bringing the total cases since the pandemic began in March to 167,926 and setting a new 14-day record for new cases. The previous record was set on Saturday.

Mississippi’s State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs said Tuesday the recent case surge is rapidly worsening.

“This wave is growing much more quickly than the summer surge (as predicted),” he said. “But our future is in our own hands. Please be safe and limit social interactions to household members only.”

Of the total cases, the state believes approximately 136,627 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 can die as a result.

The high number of cases, in turn, yields a high number of patients requiring hospitalization, health officials have said.

On Monday the state reported 1,101 confirmed COVID-19 patients hospitalized with another 87 suspected, but not confirmed by test yet COVID patients also hospitalized.

The state reported 56 new deaths Tuesday. A total of 4,017 Mississippians have died from the virus, the state reported.

The 7-day, daily average of new cases rose to 2,094 with Tuesday’s update. The 7-day average is up more than 150 percent from a month ago, more than 260 percent from two months ago.

The 14-day, daily average of new cases rose to 1,718 on Tuesday, breaking the previous record set on Saturday.