New coronavirus cases continue to decline, Mississippi health officials report, but ‘more personal tragedy to come’

Published 10:34 am Monday, October 4, 2021

The surge of new COVID-19 coronavirus cases in Mississippi continued to decline Monday as the state released the latest statistics on the virus, but the state’s top health officials said more deaths are likely as people continue to contract the virus.

Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) officials reported Monday that 1,561 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 490,777, meaning that more than 16 percent of all Mississippians have tested positive for the virus since the pandemic began.

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Mississippi State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs said the numbers show good news and bad news.

“Great news on the hospital front – COVID ICU patients declining,” he wrote on social media Monday morning. “Still substantial numbers of new admissions and more personal tragedy to come.”

Statistics indicate that approximately 1 in every 307 Mississippians has died from the virus.

MSDH reported 42 new deaths on Monday, bringing the total death toll to 9,688.

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, 44 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 56 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 872 on Monday. It was the lowest number since July 22.

The 14-day, daily average of new cases dropped to 1,048 with Monday’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 4471 119 88 18
Alcorn 5529 91 130 20
Amite 2011 52 57 9
Attala 3273 88 187 36
Benton 1455 37 47 10
Bolivar 6186 145 239 33
Calhoun 2723 45 44 7
Carroll 1637 37 52 11
Chickasaw 2911 67 61 15
Choctaw 1305 26 12 0
Claiborne 1282 35 46 9
Clarke 2861 91 133 31
Clay 3009 74 41 5
Coahoma 4053 102 138 13
Copiah 4376 89 103 14
Covington 4224 93 142 39
De Soto 31279 376 123 26
Forrest 13289 244 283 60
Franklin 1171 28 41 5
George 4823 76 67 9
Greene 2119 47 57 6
Grenada 3624 107 156 32
Hancock 7605 123 72 15
Harrison 33619 513 531 76
Hinds 31507 603 848 139
Holmes 2649 87 109 20
Humphreys 1279 38 35 9
Issaquena 193 7 0 0
Itawamba 4512 103 135 24
Jackson 23994 364 283 40
Jasper 3209 62 46 2
Jefferson 931 33 41 7
Jefferson Davis 1696 42 9 1
Jones 13605 233 235 43
Kemper 1402 41 50 10
Lafayette 8340 137 199 56
Lamar 10361 134 56 12
Lauderdale 11751 308 481 105
Lawrence 2085 36 27 2
Leake 4032 87 99 17
Lee 15196 225 225 43
Leflore 4558 141 240 55
Lincoln 5347 133 204 40
Lowndes 10688 181 278 64
Madison 14389 275 416 72
Marion 4165 104 162 24
Marshall 6259 128 69 17
Monroe 6623 172 191 55
Montgomery 1750 54 64 10
Neshoba 6547 202 226 59
Newton 3761 77 87 15
Noxubee 1818 40 38 6
Oktibbeha 7047 125 270 37
Panola 6398 128 103 15
Pearl River 9259 231 210 42
Perry 2028 54 24 9
Pike 5672 145 173 40
Pontotoc 6425 95 86 13
Prentiss 4581 81 101 15
Quitman 1049 27 0 0
Rankin 21664 382 486 68
Scott 4662 96 116 19
Sharkey 633 20 45 8
Simpson 4371 115 160 20
Smith 2579 49 72 8
Stone 3549 62 87 14
Sunflower 4185 104 124 20
Tallahatchie 2231 50 50 7
Tate 4477 106 80 19
Tippah 4558 81 120 14
Tishomingo 3476 89 103 28
Tunica 1561 36 19 3
Union 5844 93 132 23
Walthall 2134 62 69 14
Warren 6562 173 173 38
Washington 7291 155 200 41
Wayne 4367 71 80 13
Webster 1995 45 67 14
Wilkinson 1023 37 25 6
Winston 3093 91 130 39
Yalobusha 2282 47 82 22
Yazoo 4299 86 150 20
Total 490,777 9,688 11,240 2,075