Mississippi’s new COVID-19 coronavirus case averages are dropping, but deaths from people already sick with the virus continue to pile up, the latest stats released Saturday from the state show.

The Mississippi State Health Department reported 39 new deaths on Saturday, bringing the total death toll to 5,752.

In the first 23 days of January 968 deaths have been reported, making it second on the list of most COVID deaths reported since the pandemic began. In December, 982 deaths were reported.

If the pace of deaths reported in January were to continue through the end of the month, the state may see as many as 1,300 deaths.

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

The state reported Saturday 1,856 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 263,023.

The 14-day, daily average of new cases dropped to 1,736 on Saturday. It was the lowest 7-day average of new cases in nearly a month.

The 7-day, daily average of new cases dropped to 1,868 with Saturday’s update.

Of the total cases, the state believes approximately 207,769 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.