Mississippi’s battle against the COVID-19 coronavirus is looking grim this month as case numbers keep rising and the rate of deaths reported per day is at a record high.

The Mississippi State Department of Health reported 2,205 new cases on Tuesday. The latest numbers bring the total cases since the pandemic began in March to 183,300.

More than 30,000 new cases have been confirmed in December. With only half of December elapsed, the month already has eclipsed every month of the pandemic except July and November.

If December’s pace of new cases and deaths continues evenly through the remainder of the month, the state may see as many as 60,000 cases or more, nearly double any prior month, and as many as 900 deaths.

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)	30,030

Of the total cases, the state believes approximately 148,466 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.

Through Sunday’s statistics, the state reported 1,188 confirmed COVID-19 patients hospitalized with another 67 suspected, but not confirmed by test yet COVID patients also hospitalized.

The state reported 48 new deaths Tuesday. A total of 4,252 Mississippians have died from the virus, the state reported.

The average number of deaths reported per day during December is currently averaging 29.7, for a total of 445 so far during the month. The deadliest month on record was August when the state reported 813 deaths.

The 7-day, daily average of new cases was 2,196 with Tuesday’s update, a new record high.

The 14-day, daily average of new cases was 2,064 on Tuesday, a new record