After more than a month of daily declines, Mississippi’s average weekly number of new COVID-19 coronavirus cases rose Tuesday with the latest date released by the state.

Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) officials reported Tuesday that 1,278 new coronavirus cases were found over the last 24 hours.

The additional cases reported Tuesday brings the total number of cases found in the state since the pandemic began to 499,838, meaning that nearly 17 percent of all Mississippians have tested positive for the virus since the pandemic began.

Statistics indicate that approximately 1 in every 299 Mississippians has died from the virus.

MSDH reported 18 new deaths on Tuesday, bringing the total death toll to 9,957.

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 Tuesday, 46 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 57 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 529 on Tuesday.

The 14-day, daily average of new cases dropped to 580 with Tuesday’s update.

Cumulative Cases and Deaths by County