Mississippi’s weekly average of new COVID-19 coronavirus cases soared to a new record high Tuesday eclipsing the previous high mark set in January. What’s more worrisome is that state health officials say they see no signs of the virus slowing and predict more deaths are around the corner.

Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) officials reported Tuesday that 3,488 new coronavirus cases were found over the last 24 hours. It was the highest number of new cases recorded in a single day since the pandemic began, state records indicate.

“Based on historical trends – this (new cases reported Tuesday) will translate into around 73 deaths in coming days, almost all preventable,” Mississippi State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs wrote on social media Tuesday morning.

Dobbs has continued to urge Mississippians to get vaccinated as the vast majority of current hospitalizations are in unvaccinated people.

The additional cases reported Tuesday brings the total number of cases found in the state since the pandemic began to 368,549.

Mississippi has seen a steep rise in cases since early July. Only 10 days into the month of August, Mississippi has already reported more new cases than any month this year except January and appears on track to eclipse January’s totals before the end of the month.

Here’s how the monthly numbers break down for each month of 2021:

January ’21	59,185
February ’21	19,794
March ’21	10,351
April ’21	6,754
May ’21	5,931
June ’21	4,051
July ’21	21,741
August ’21 (MTD)	25,044

MSDH reported 36 new deaths on Tuesday, bringing the total death toll to 7,685

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 39% of all Mississippians have received at least one shot of the COVID-19 vaccines available.

And approximately 33% 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 soared to 2,640 on Tuesday, the highest level since the pandemic began.

The 14-day, daily average of new cases jumped to 2,176 with Tuesday’s update. It was the highest level since January 16.

Cumulative Cases and Deaths by County