COVID-19 coronavirus continue to spread rapidly across Mississippi, more than 22K new cases over weekend

Published 4:45 pm Tuesday, January 18, 2022

With more than two weeks left to go, January has already shattered Mississippi’s record for the most new COVID-19 coronavirus cases in a single month with approximately 1 in 26 residents reportedly infected since New Year’s.

Mississippi broke more records for new COVID-19 coronavirus cases on Tuesday as the omicron variant explodes across the state.

Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) officials reported Tuesday that 22,456 new coronavirus cases were found over the last four days that ended at 3 p.m. Monday.

Subscribe to our free email newsletter

Get the latest news sent to your inbox

Since January 1, 113,347 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,  statistically, 1 in every 26 Mississippians has tested positive for the virus since the start of January.

The additional cases reported Tuesday bring the total number of cases found in the state since the pandemic began to 657,084.

Although health experts say the new omicron variant tends to require less hospital care than previous variants, the massive number of new cases in this wave is still causing hospitalizations to grow rapidly.

Through last Thursday, 1,365 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.

At their peak during last summer’s delta variant wave hospitalizations hit a high mark of 1,667 on August 19, 2021.

MSDH reported 17 new deaths on Tuesday, bringing the total death toll to 10,642.

Through Tuesday, 49 percent of the total Mississippi population has been fully vaccinated. The number of fully vaccinated Mississippians remains below the U.S. average of 63 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 rose Tuesday to 6,869, another new record high.

The 14-day, daily average of new cases rose sharply to 6,492 with Tuesday’s update. It was another new all-time high.

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 5751 125 89 18
Alcorn 7790 121 131 20
Amite 2636 59 57 9
Attala 4020 90 190 36
Benton 1914 42 47 10
Bolivar 7787 155 240 33
Calhoun 3761 52 44 7
Carroll 2208 42 52 11
Chickasaw 4423 79 61 15
Choctaw 1629 27 13 0
Claiborne 1846 41 46 9
Clarke 3513 96 132 32
Clay 4283 78 41 5
Coahoma 5538 115 138 14
Copiah 5911 96 109 15
Covington 6049 98 157 39
De Soto 42397 463 130 27
Forrest 17551 267 307 61
Franklin 1567 34 46 5
George 6037 80 75 9
Greene 2588 50 63 6
Grenada 4676 113 157 32
Hancock 9740 141 133 22
Harrison 42914 575 575 81
Hinds 45953 668 857 140
Holmes 3765 94 117 20
Humphreys 1718 39 35 9
Issaquena 215 7 0 0
Itawamba 5908 115 136 24
Jackson 31040 398 316 41
Jasper 4038 66 46 2
Jefferson 1249 35 41 7
Jefferson Davis 2446 43 14 1
Jones 17287 250 279 45
Kemper 1784 42 50 10
Lafayette 11980 149 202 57
Lamar 13981 142 62 12
Lauderdale 15455 325 499 108
Lawrence 2902 44 27 2
Leake 5171 92 102 17
Lee 22323 255 224 43
Leflore 6669 145 250 56
Lincoln 6689 139 210 41
Lowndes 14272 202 306 69
Madison 20261 289 416 72
Marion 5602 120 168 24
Marshall 8351 150 69 17
Monroe 9009 185 191 55
Montgomery 2553 60 66 11
Neshoba 8421 211 232 61
Newton 4725 85 89 15
Noxubee 2336 46 42 6
Oktibbeha 8909 141 272 40
Panola 8862 141 103 15
Pearl River 12026 247 227 42
Perry 2521 57 30 9
Pike 7586 160 178 44
Pontotoc 8487 118 88 13
Prentiss 6502 89 101 15
Quitman 1381 28 0 0
Rankin 29759 419 500 69
Scott 5726 101 119 19
Sharkey 770 21 45 8
Simpson 5744 120 167 20
Smith 3291 57 77 8
Stone 4409 67 95 14
Sunflower 5223 111 129 21
Tallahatchie 2741 53 50 7
Tate 5981 123 80 19
Tippah 5922 89 121 14
Tishomingo 4787 99 103 28
Tunica 2225 41 20 3
Union 7891 101 133 23
Walthall 2841 70 69 14
Warren 8715 182 175 38
Washington 8821 171 213 41
Wayne 4886 73 81 13
Webster 2597 51 66 14
Wilkinson 1635 40 25 6
Winston 4093 95 135 39
Yalobusha 3266 48 83 22
Yazoo 6855 94 152 20
Total 657,084 10,642 11,716 2,119