New COVID-19 coronavirus cases remained at near-record levels Friday but continue to be slightly lower than recent highs, perhaps a sign that the number of new cases is plateauing.

Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) officials reported Friday that 4,041 new coronavirus cases were found in the last 24 hours.

The additional cases reported Friday brings the total number of cases found in the state since the pandemic began to 427,640, meaning more than 14 percent of all Mississippians have tested positive for the virus since the pandemic began.

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 since the pandemic began in March 2020.

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)	84,135

The high number of cases so far in August means, statistically,  means approximately 2.8 out of every 100 Mississippi residents has contracted the virus this month.

More Mississippians have contracted the virus so far in August than in the six months prior combined.

MSDH reported 65 new deaths on Friday, bringing the total death toll to 8,279. August is already the month with the fourth-highest number of COVID-19 deaths reported with 736 through Friday.

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.

The recent spikes in cases and deaths have prompted more people to get vaccinated.

Through Thursday, only 38 percent of the total population has been fully vaccinated, nearly the worst in the nation and well below the U.S. average of 52 percent.

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 dropped to 3,056 on Friday. It was the fifth day in a row that the weekly average has been lower than the prior day’s statistic.

The 14-day, daily average of new cases rose to 3,321 with Friday’s update.

Cumulative Cases and Deaths by County