Mississippi reported thousands more new COVID-19 coronavirus cases on Friday as the omicron variant continues to spread rapidly across all corners of the state, breaking more records.

Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) officials reported Friday that 6,774 new coronavirus cases were found in the last 24 hours.

Since just after Christmas (approximately 13 days ago) a staggering 61,045 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 49 Mississippians has tested positive for the virus.

The additional cases reported Friday brings the total number of cases found in the state since the pandemic began to 586,547.

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

Through Thursday, 940 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 16 new deaths on Friday, bringing the total death toll to 10,527.

Through Friday, 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 Friday to 6,116. The new 7-day, daily average shattered the previous record set yesterday.

The 14-day, daily average of new cases rose sharply to 4,360 with Friday’s update. It was another new all-time high.

Cumulative Cases and Deaths by County