Mississippi’s battle with the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic continues to rack up deaths in spite of what appears to be a slowing of new case spread.

The Mississippi State Health Department reported 28 new deaths on Thursday, bringing the total death toll to 5,945.

So far in January 1,162 deaths have been reported, making January the month with the most COVID deaths reported 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 Thursday occurred in the last 24 hours.

The recent high number of deaths has, sadly, provided some relief for the state’s hospitals. After running for weeks with 1,300 to 1,400 confirmed COVID-19 patients filling hospital beds, the number dipped below 1,000 patients earlier this week. ICU bed availability continues to be under pressure with more than 90-percent of the beds filled.

The state reported Thursday 1,804 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 270,476. Thursday’s cases mark the first time in several days the new cases topped 2,000.

The 14-day, daily average of new cases dropped to 1,623 on Thursday.

The 7-day, daily average of new cases dropped to 1,759 with Thursday’s update.

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.