New cases of COVID-19 coronavirus continues to break records Monday after the state reported nearly 8,000 new cases since Friday.

Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) officials reported Monday that 7,839 new coronavirus cases were found over the weekend.

The additional cases reported Monday brings the total number of cases found in the state since the pandemic began to 388,986.

Mississippi has seen a steep rise in cases since early July.

Since the beginning of August, Mississippi has already reported more new cases than any month this year began except January.

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)	45,481

The high number of cases so far in August means, statistically,  means more than 1.5 out of every 100 Mississippi residents has contracted the virus this month.

MSDH reported 52 new deaths on Monday, bringing the total death toll to 7,813

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.

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 3,418 on Monday, the highest level since the pandemic began. Monday’s average broke the previous 7-day average which was set Friday.

The 14-day, daily average of new cases jumped to 2,892 with Monday’s update. It was the highest level since the pandemic began and broke the prior record that was set on Friday.

Cumulative Cases and Deaths by County