Mississippi shatters single-day record for new coronavirus cases as Thanksgiving surge hits

Published 9:35 am Wednesday, December 9, 2020

Mississippi again shattered its record for the highest number of new COVID-19 coronavirus cases in a 24-hour period, the state announced Wednesday afternoon.

The Mississippi State Department of Health reported 2,746 new cases on Wednesday, a new record. The prior record was set on Friday. The latest numbers bring the total cases since the pandemic began in March to 170,672 and setting new 7-day and 14-day records for new cases.

Earlier Wednesday, the health department initially reported an even higher number of new cases, but quickly announced that number was in error due to a computer glitch.

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More than 17,000 new cases have been confirmed in the last 7 days. New cases confirmed in Mississippi over the last 14 days eclipse every month of the pandemic except July and November.

Here’s a monthly new case breakdown:

Month New cases
June 11,746
July 31,496
August 24,203
September 15,240
October 21,970
November 33,111
December (month to date) 17,402

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 Tuesday the state reported 1,125 confirmed COVID-19 patients hospitalized with another 97 suspected, but not confirmed by test yet COVID patients also hospitalized.

The state reported 25 new deaths Wednesday. A total of 4,041 Mississippians have died from the virus, the state reported.

The 7-day, daily average of new cases jumped to 2,323 with Wednesday’s update, another all-time high.

The 14-day, daily average of new cases rose to 1,866 on Wednesday, breaking the previous record set the day prior.

Cumulative Cases and Deaths by County

Totals of all reported COVID-19 cases for 2020, including those in long-term care (LTC) facilities.

The numbers in this table are provisional. County case numbers and deaths may change as investigation finds new or additional information. The data provided below is the most current available.

County Total Cases Total Deaths Total LTC Facility Cases Total LTC Facility Deaths
Adams 1550 52 70 14
Alcorn 1693 31 93 14
Amite 675 16 18 3
Attala 1338 37 134 24
Benton 540 19 44 10
Bolivar 2703 89 224 30
Calhoun 873 14 25 4
Carroll 819 15 46 9
Chickasaw 1222 33 48 14
Choctaw 401 7 1 0
Claiborne 601 16 43 9
Clarke 1008 55 93 27
Clay 1023 27 20 3
Coahoma 1672 46 127 11
Copiah 1845 42 72 9
Covington 1480 51 94 23
De Soto 11375 110 103 20
Forrest 4257 90 187 41
Franklin 423 6 4 1
George 1443 27 47 6
Greene 809 23 48 6
Grenada 1558 49 135 23
Hancock 1410 45 68 12
Harrison 8140 117 392 38
Hinds 11193 213 552 85
Holmes 1422 61 103 20
Humphreys 596 21 33 8
Issaquena 131 4 0 0
Itawamba 1765 42 100 18
Jackson 7123 137 206 21
Jasper 970 24 1 0
Jefferson 398 12 15 3
Jefferson Davis 629 18 8 1
Jones 4103 90 194 38
Kemper 569 19 41 9
Lafayette 3573 61* 152 36
Lamar 3277 50 44 12
Lauderdale 4008 152 345 81
Lawrence 788 14 27 2
Leake 1521 45 45 7
Lee 5925 99 202 39
Leflore 2248 94 196 48
Lincoln 2132 71 166 36
Lowndes 2944 70 129 37
Madison 5532 118 298 57
Marion 1358 50 124 19
Marshall 2410 53 59 15
Monroe 2325 78 176 52
Montgomery 849 27 54 9
Neshoba 2472 126 175 50
Newton 1242 30 55 10
Noxubee 779 17 21 4
Oktibbeha 2724 64 201 31
Panola 2576 57 73 11
Pearl River 1827 72 127 25
Perry 721 27 20 7
Pike 1795 61 98 27
Pontotoc 2386 32 20 3
Prentiss 1667 36 93 12
Quitman 529 7 0 0
Rankin 6785 117 267 33
Scott 1749 30 32 3
Sharkey 342 17 43 8
Simpson 1625 54 142 19
Smith 818 16 55 8
Stone 911 15 61 9
Sunflower 2042 57 84 15
Tallahatchie 1047 28 33 7
Tate 1970 51 72 18
Tippah 1455 33 62 4
Tishomingo 1233 47 96 26
Tunica 653 19 15 2
Union 2009 27 50 11
Walthall 841 31 67 13
Warren 2004 60 146 27
Washington 3523 108 187 39
Wayne 1352 24 61 10
Webster 526 14 52 11
Wilkinson 461 22 20 5
Winston 1440 31 88 17
Yalobusha 807 29 81 21
Yazoo 1714 42 138 15
Total 170,672 4,041 8,141 1,505

* Note: One death previously reported in Lafayette County was not from COVID-19, and has been removed.