Mississippi’s growing spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus continues to worsen as cases and deaths grow by the day with December setting a new case record with each new day.

The Mississippi State Department of Health reported 2,507 new cases on Friday. The latest numbers bring the total cases since the pandemic began in March to 190,411.

More than 37,140 new cases have been confirmed in December, a new record and perhaps an ominous sign for health care workers and hospital administrators already struggling with capacity problems.

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)	37,141

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 Wednesday’s statistics, the state reported 1,219 confirmed COVID-19 patients hospitalized with another 74 suspected, but not confirmed by test yet COVID patients also hospitalized.

Mississippi State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs wrote Friday on social media that the rising numbers of cases combined with the already high hospitalization are a bad combination.

“Be ready. January will be rough,” Dobbs wrote on Twitter. “We can mitigate if we restrain our holiday events, but likely to be extremely difficult regardless.”

The state reported 34 new deaths Friday. A total of 4,354 Mississippians have died from the virus, the state reported.

The average number of deaths reported per day during December is currently averaging 30.4, for a total of 547 so far during the month, making December already the third deadliest month on record. The deadliest month on record was August when the state reported 813 deaths. The second deadliest was July with 593 reported deaths.

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.

The 7-day, daily average of new cases rose to 2,161 with Friday’s update.

The 14-day, daily average of new cases rose to 2,064 on Friday, tying the previous record high set earlier in the week.