Mississippi’s weekly average of new COVID-19 coronavirus cases soared to a new record high Wednesday for the second straight day.

Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) officials reported Wednesday that 3,163 new coronavirus cases were found over the last 24 hours, the majority of which are the highly contagious delta variant.

The additional cases reported Wednesday brings the total number of cases found in the state since the pandemic began to 371,712.

Mississippi has seen a steep rise in cases since early July. Only 11 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)	28,207

The high number of cases in the last 14 days means, statistically, approximately 1 out of every 100 Mississippi residents has contracted the virus in the last two weeks.

MSDH reported 25 new deaths on Wednesday, bringing the total death toll to 7,710

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 Tuesday 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 rose to 2,689 on Wednesday, the highest level since the pandemic began. Wednesday’s average broke the previous 7-day average which was set Tuesday.

The 14-day, daily average of new cases jumped to 2,268 with Wednesday’s update. It was the highest level since January 11 and the third-highest mark since the pandemic began

Cumulative Cases and Deaths by County