Mississippi reported thousands of new COVID-19 coronavirus cases Monday and a record number of deaths for a single day, though many of the deaths actually occurred many weeks ago, but were just now discovered through records research.

Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) officials reported Monday that 5,781 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 452,644, meaning that more than 15 percent of all Mississippians have tested positive for the virus since the pandemic began.

MSDH reported 125 new deaths on Monday, bringing the total death toll to 8,664. That was the largest number of deaths reported on a single day. More than half of the deaths reported Monday actually occurred in the past with at least 49 occurring in the month of August which were identified through death certificate research, the state reporting.

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 Friday, 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 2,395 on Monday.

The 14-day, daily average of new cases dropped to 2,777 with Monday’s update.

Cumulative Cases and Deaths by County