New cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus in Mississippi continued to climb Tuesday to levels not seen since January, the worse month to date of the pandemic and the worst cases are putting tremendous strain on state hospitals.

Mississippi State Department of Health officials reported Tuesday that 1,574 new coronavirus cases were found in the last 24 hours.

The additional cases reported Tuesday brings the total number of cases found in the state since the pandemic began to 350,070.

The Mississippi State Department of Health reported 34 new deaths on Tuesday, bringing the total death toll to 7,590.

Hattiesburg pediatrician Dr. Anita Henderson urged state leaders in a social media post on Monday to protect young, unvaccinated children across the state.

“This was avoidable and preventable,” wrote Henderson, who is also the president of the Mississippi Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. “I hope (the Mississippi Department of Education, Mississippi school superintendents and Gov. Tate Reeves) and schools look at this as they make mask recommendations. Adults must do the right thing to protect children under 12 who are unable to be vaccinated.”

Mississippi hospitals are quickly becoming filled again with COVID-19 patients, state records show. Through Monday, more than 1,000 people were hospitalized with the virus, more than five times the levels of just one month ago.

State statistics show 284 ICU beds are filled with COVID-19 patients, more than three times as many as one month 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 38% 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.

The number of Mississippians who have received at least one shot of the vaccine has grown in recent days, Mississippi State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs wrote on social media Tuesday.

The weekly vaccination rate more than doubled, Dobbs wrote, in the last several weeks. In the most recent period, 52,952 vaccine doses were administered. In early July, the weekly amount hovered around 20,000.

“We need ~1 million more immune Mississippians to reach population immunity,” Dobbs wrote. “Delta is deadly.”

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 1,713 on Tuesday, the highest level since January 23.

The 14-day, daily average of new cases rose to 1,455 with Tuesday’s update. It was the highest level since February 3.

Cumulative Cases and Deaths by County