The spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus continued to quicken Tuesday with the pace of new cases now at levels not seen since early February.

Mississippi State Department of Health officials reported Tuesday that 1,291 new coronavirus cases were found in the last 24 hours. In the last two weeks, more than 14,000 new cases of the virus have been confirmed in Mississippi, state records show.

The additional cases reported Tuesday brings the total number of cases found in the state since the pandemic began to 338,079.

The Mississippi State Department of Health reported 15 new deaths on Tuesday, bringing the total death toll to 7,523. Ten of the deaths reported Tuesday were found through records research and thus could have occurred several months ago.

Mississippi health leaders have said that a combination of a low overall vaccination rate among Mississippians along with a rapidly spreading Delta variant is causing the recent surge in cases.

Through Monday morning, approximately 36% of all Mississippians have received at least one shot of the COVID-19 vaccines available.

And approximately 32% of Mississippi’s population are fully vaccinated, the state reported.

For more detailed county-by-county vaccination results visit: https://msdh.ms.gov/msdhsite/_static/resources/12130.pdf

The 7-day, daily average of new cases jumped to 1,197 on Monday, the highest level since February 3. By comparison, the rate was 193 on July 1, meaning in approximately four weeks the average number of new cases has increased 520 percent since the start of July.

The 14-day, daily average of new cases rose to 929 with Monday’s update.

With the growing case numbers, the state is also reporting large growth in the number of COVID patients requiring hospitalization. Through Sunday (the latest data available on Tuesday morning) the state showed 589 patients either with confirmed COVID or suspected COVID were in state hospital beds, the highest number since the winter peak.

Cumulative Cases and Deaths by County