The spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus continued to spread across Mississippi and sicken more state residents on Friday, Christmas Day.

The state reported a record number of new hospital admissions over the last 24 hours as new cases continue to rise.

Mississippi reported on Friday six new deaths attributed to the virus. A total of 4,562 Mississippians have died from the virus, the state reported.

The average number of deaths reported per day during December is currently averaging 30.2, for a total of 756 deaths reported so far during the month, making December second only to August when the state reported 813 deaths. Note: Some deaths reported on a given day or in a given month may have occurred earlier, but were delayed in reporting.

The Mississippi State Department of Health reported 1,527 new cases on Friday. The latest numbers bring the total cases since the pandemic began in March to 204,178.

Approximately 50,908 new cases have been confirmed in December, the month with the highest number of new cases since the pandemic began in March. The high case load is 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)	50,908

Of the total cases, the state believes approximately 154,669 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 Tuesday’s statistics, the state reported 1,312 confirmed COVID-19 patients were hospitalized with another 65 suspected, but not confirmed by test yet COVID patients also hospitalized.

The state reported that across the state only 89 ICU beds were available, meaning that 90 percent of all ICU beds were filled. Of the ICU beds in use, approximately 42 percent were filled with confirmed COVID-19 patients.

Mississippi State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs wrote Friday on social media that the state had experienced record new hospital admissions, 180 new patients on Christmas Eve.

“Record COVID admissions AND the hospitals are already full,” he wrote. “Thank a healthcare hero this Christmas!”

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 dropped to 1,967 with Friday’s update.

The 14-day, daily average of new cases dropped to 2,064 on Friday.