Mississippi reported on Monday the lowest number of new COVID-19 coronavirus cases in approximately one month, a sign perhaps that the post-holiday surge may be waning.

The Mississippi State Health Department reported five new deaths on Monday, bringing the total death toll to 5,777.

In the first 25 days of January 994 deaths have been reported, making January the month with the most COVID deaths reported since the pandemic began. Previously, December was the record with 982 deaths reported.

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

The state reported Monday 927 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 265,146.

The 14-day, daily average of new cases dropped to 1,602 on Monday. It was the lowest 7-day average of new cases since early December.

The 7-day, daily average of new cases dropped to 1,774 with Monday’s update, also the lowest 14-day average since the first week of December.

Of the total cases, the state believes approximately 222,812 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.