New cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus continued to soar Thursday with thousands more infections identified in the last 24 hours, breaking both the single-day and 7-day average records again.

Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) officials reported Thursday that 7,079 new coronavirus cases were found in the last 24 hours.

Since just after Christmas (approximately 12 days ago) a staggering 54,271 cases have been officially logged, though the number is likely much higher due to at-home tests typically not being reported to the state health department.  To put the rapid spread in perspective,  since Christmas approximately 1 in every 55 Mississippians has tested positive for the virus.

The additional cases reported Thursday brings the total number of cases found in the state since the pandemic began to 579,773.

Fortunately, so far at least, health experts say the number of hospitalizations from this wave have been less than feared, but are still growing rapidly.

Through Tuesday, 785 patients were hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19, the state health department reported. By comparison at the beginning of December less than 200 COVID patients were hospitalized.

MSDH reported eight new deaths on Thursday, bringing the total death toll to 10,511.

Through Wednesday, 49 percent of the total Mississippi population has been fully vaccinated. The number of fully vaccinated Mississippians remains below the U.S. average of 62 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 soared Thursday to 5,148. The new 7-day, daily average shattered the previous record set yesterday.

The 14-day, daily average of new cases rose sharply to 3,877 with Thursday’s update. It was a new all-time high.

Cumulative Cases and Deaths by County