Mississippi reported a much lower number of new COVID-19 coronavirus cases on Tuesday, but health officials warn the low number was directly impacted by the closure of testing sites across portions of the state impacted by Hurricane Ida.

Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) officials reported Tuesday that 1,111 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 436,722, meaning that 14.7 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.

August ended with the most new cases of any other month during the pandemic.

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	93,217

Statistically,  more than 3.1 out of every 100 Mississippi residents contracted the virus this month.

MSDH reported 48 new deaths on Tuesday, bringing the total death toll to 8,409.

August ends with the third-highest number of COVID-19 deaths reported in a single month with 866 dead.

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 Monday, only 39 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 2,848 on Tuesday.

The 14-day, daily average of new cases dropped to 3,172 with Tuesday’s update.

Cumulative Cases and Deaths by County