More than 588 days after the first case of the COVID-19 coronavirus was found in Mississippi in March 2020, the state topped a statistical milestone Wednesday marking more than 500,000 cases since the pandemic began.

Despite recording more than 500,000 total cases, the state’s current numbers have been improving. Although numbers jumped up slightly on Tuesday the overall trend of new cases continued down.

Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) officials reported Wednesday that 448 new coronavirus cases were found over the last 24 hours.

The additional cases reported Wednesday brings the total number of cases found in the state since the pandemic began to 500,286, 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 11 new deaths on Wednesday, bringing the total death toll to 9,968.

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, 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 491 on Wednesday.

The 14-day, daily average of new cases dropped to 552 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	4584	119	88	18
Alcorn	5662	101	130	20
Amite	2047	55	57	9
Attala	3310	89	189	36
Benton	1484	38	47	10
Bolivar	6302	148	239	33
Calhoun	2789	45	44	7
Carroll	1687	38	52	11
Chickasaw	2994	67	61	15
Choctaw	1333	26	12	0
Claiborne	1322	37	46	9
Clarke	2921	94	133	32
Clay	3076	76	41	5
Coahoma	4154	104	138	13
Copiah	4477	92	104	14
Covington	4286	94	142	39
De Soto	32039	402	124	26
Forrest	13438	250	283	60
Franklin	1194	28	41	5
George	4965	79	73	9
Greene	2182	48	57	6
Grenada	3703	108	156	32
Hancock	7727	126	72	15
Harrison	34281	537	532	77
Hinds	31911	626	852	139
Holmes	2678	87	109	20
Humphreys	1292	38	35	9
Issaquena	193	7	0	0
Itawamba	4628	105	135	24
Jackson	24466	379	284	41
Jasper	3295	65	46	2
Jefferson	944	34	41	7
Jefferson Davis	1714	42	9	1
Jones	13825	242	237	43
Kemper	1419	41	50	10
Lafayette	8542	139	199	56
Lamar	10510	135	56	12
Lauderdale	11984	316	481	107
Lawrence	2124	40	27	2
Leake	4080	88	99	17
Lee	15501	235	225	43
Leflore	4654	144	240	55
Lincoln	5431	134	205	40
Lowndes	11003	188	280	66
Madison	14566	279	416	72
Marion	4225	107	162	24
Marshall	6460	134	69	17
Monroe	6765	176	191	55
Montgomery	1794	56	64	10
Neshoba	6625	206	228	60
Newton	3816	79	87	15
Noxubee	1864	40	41	6
Oktibbeha	7139	131	270	39
Panola	6511	131	103	15
Pearl River	9494	237	210	42
Perry	2052	56	24	9
Pike	5815	152	174	43
Pontotoc	6655	102	86	13
Prentiss	4665	81	101	15
Quitman	1064	28	0	0
Rankin	21971	390	492	69
Scott	4721	98	116	19
Sharkey	640	20	45	8
Simpson	4440	116	161	20
Smith	2633	50	72	8
Stone	3597	64	88	14
Sunflower	4235	105	124	20
Tallahatchie	2268	51	50	7
Tate	4579	109	80	19
Tippah	4683	81	120	14
Tishomingo	3594	92	103	28
Tunica	1594	39	19	3
Union	6012	94	132	23
Walthall	2187	63	69	14
Warren	6679	176	174	38
Washington	7418	157	203	41
Wayne	4391	72	80	13
Webster	2026	46	67	14
Wilkinson	1048	39	25	6
Winston	3140	91	131	39
Yalobusha	2333	47	82	22
Yazoo	4436	87	152	20
Total	500,286	9,968	11,282	2,089