The spread of COVID-19 continued to slow Wednesday as the state released the latest numbers of new cases found in the last 24 hours.

Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) officials reported Wednesday that 1,557 new coronavirus cases were found in the last 24 hours.

The additional cases reported Wednesday brings the total number of cases found in the state since the pandemic began to 479,326, meaning that more than 16 percent of all Mississippians have tested positive for the virus since the pandemic began.

Statistics indicate that 1 in every 318 Mississippians has died from the virus.

MSDH reported 22 new deaths on Wednesday, bringing the total death toll to 9,353.

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 Wednesday, 43 percent of the total Mississippi population has been fully vaccinated. The number of fully vaccinated Mississippians has grown rapidly over the last several weeks but remains below the U.S. average of 55 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 1,547 on Wednesday. That number is less than half of what it was approximately three weeks ago.

The 14-day, daily average of new cases dropped to 1,717 with Wednesday’s update.

Cumulative Cases and Deaths by County

Totals of all reported COVID-19 cases, including those in long-term care (LTC) facilities.

The numbers in this table are provisional. County case and deaths totals may change as investigation finds new or additional information.

County	Total Cases	Total Deaths	Total LTC Facility Cases	Total LTC Facility Deaths
Adams	4376	116	88	18
Alcorn	5332	89	130	20
Amite	1976	51	57	9
Attala	3242	86	187	36
Benton	1415	33	47	10
Bolivar	6072	144	239	33
Calhoun	2639	40	43	7
Carroll	1614	37	52	11
Chickasaw	2862	65	61	15
Choctaw	1260	26	12	0
Claiborne	1261	34	46	9
Clarke	2798	90	133	31
Clay	2941	73	41	5
Coahoma	3910	98	134	12
Copiah	4295	87	102	14
Covington	4132	92	142	39
De Soto	30319	353	122	26
Forrest	13078	236	283	60
Franklin	1163	28	41	5
George	4660	72	66	9
Greene	2068	45	57	6
Grenada	3543	104	156	32
Hancock	7404	111	72	15
Harrison	32779	484	532	75
Hinds	30924	582	846	139
Holmes	2613	87	109	20
Humphreys	1259	37	35	9
Issaquena	192	6	0	0
Itawamba	4415	99	135	24
Jackson	23542	341	283	39
Jasper	3131	62	46	2
Jefferson	873	33	41	7
Jefferson Davis	1674	42	9	1
Jones	13327	223	234	43
Kemper	1380	39	50	10
Lafayette	8193	137	199	56
Lamar	10163	130	55	12
Lauderdale	11501	303	481	105
Lawrence	2057	32	27	2
Leake	3954	86	94	16
Lee	14803	219	225	43
Leflore	4444	140	240	55
Lincoln	5283	131	204	40
Lowndes	10377	176	277	64
Madison	14120	271	415	72
Marion	4073	104	162	24
Marshall	6068	121	67	16
Monroe	6459	159	191	55
Montgomery	1716	54	64	10
Neshoba	6441	201	220	59
Newton	3672	74	87	15
Noxubee	1777	39	38	6
Oktibbeha	6909	122	260	37
Panola	6203	125	103	15
Pearl River	9008	217	210	42
Perry	1985	53	24	9
Pike	5574	135	165	38
Pontotoc	6230	93	86	13
Prentiss	4433	77	101	15
Quitman	1034	26	0	0
Rankin	21235	366	483	68
Scott	4547	96	116	19
Sharkey	623	20	45	8
Simpson	4313	112	160	20
Smith	2480	48	72	8
Stone	3503	59	87	14
Sunflower	4123	104	124	20
Tallahatchie	2175	50	50	7
Tate	4327	101	80	19
Tippah	4421	80	120	14
Tishomingo	3332	88	103	28
Tunica	1508	34	19	2
Union	5713	86	132	23
Walthall	2099	58	69	14
Warren	6387	163	173	38
Washington	6900	150	198	41
Wayne	4307	66	80	13
Webster	1950	42	67	14
Wilkinson	1015	36	25	6
Winston	3030	91	130	39
Yalobusha	2196	47	82	22
Yazoo	4196	86	149	20
Total	479,326	9,353	11,190	2,067