Mississippi health officials reported nearly 100 deaths attributed to the COVID-19 coronavirus Tuesday, though some date back to last year.

The state reported 98 new deaths on Tuesday, bringing the total death toll to 5,284. In the first nine days of January 499 deaths have been reported. Tuesday’s death report was the highest number reported on a single day since the pandemic began in March.

Because some deaths reported on a given day or in a given month may have occurred earlier, not all of the deaths reported Tuesday occurred in the last 24 hours. The state reported that of the 98 deaths reported Tuesday, 52 occurred between January 5 and January 11, and 46 occurred between October 28 and January 8.

The Mississippi State Health Department reported Tuesday 1,648 new cases were found in the last 24 hours. That brings the total number of cases found in the state since the pandemic began to 241,957.

In the last 14 days, approximately 32,000 new cases have been found in Mississippi, more than all but two complete months of the pandemic — July and December.

Of the total cases, the state believes approximately 198,888 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 dropped to 2,359 on Tuesday.

The 7-day, daily average of new cases dipped to 2,280 with Tuesday’s update.