Mississippi’s spike in COVID-19 coronavirus cases and deaths continued at near-record levels with the latest data released by the state.

Mississippi reported 38 additional deaths of COVID-19 coronavirus patients Wednesday.  A total of 5,013 Mississippians have died from the virus, the state reported.

Because some deaths reported on a given day or in a given month may have occurred earlier, not all of the deaths reported Wednesday occurred in the last 24 hours.

The Mississippi State Department of Health reported 2,791 new cases of COVID-19 coronavirus Wednesday. It was the second-highest number of new cases reported on a single day. The highest number, 3,023, was reported last Wednesday.

The latest case numbers bring the total cases found in the state to 228,235.

The high number of cases has led to extreme pressure put on the state’s hospital system.

Through Tuesday, Mississippi hospitals had only 61 available ICU beds, meaning the state’s collective ICU capacity was more than 93-percent full.

Of the total cases, the state believes approximately 182,103 cases 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 14-day, daily average of new cases dipped to 2,169 on Wednesday.

The 7-day, daily average of new cases rose to 1,994 with Wednesday’s update.