Coronavirus continues to spread rapidly across Mississippi, 1 in 22 Mississippians have contracted the virus this month

Published 5:22 pm Friday, January 21, 2022

Mississippi continued to log thousands more new COVID-19 coronavirus cases on Friday, but the weekly average number dipped ever so slightly from the most recent skyward trend.

Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) officials reported Friday that 7,509 new coronavirus cases were found in the 24-hour period that ended at 3 p.m. Thursday.

Since January 1, 137,645 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.

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To put the rapid spread in perspective,  statistically, 1 in every 22 Mississippians has tested positive for the virus since the start of January.

The new cases reported Friday bring the total number of cases found in the state since the pandemic began to 681,382.

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 Wednesday, 1,495 patients were hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19, the state health department reported. At the peak during last summer’s delta variant wave hospitalizations hit a high mark of 1,667 on August 19, 2021.

MSDH reported 14 new deaths on Friday, bringing the total death toll to 10,721.

Through Thursday, 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 dipped slightly Friday to 6,679.

The 14-day, daily average of new cases rose to 6,774 with Friday’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 5922 125 89 18
Alcorn 8266 123 131 20
Amite 2724 59 57 9
Attala 4122 91 192 36
Benton 1954 43 47 10
Bolivar 7974 157 241 33
Calhoun 3973 52 44 7
Carroll 2297 42 52 11
Chickasaw 4664 80 61 15
Choctaw 1714 27 13 0
Claiborne 1937 42 46 9
Clarke 3654 96 132 32
Clay 4439 80 41 5
Coahoma 5648 116 138 14
Copiah 6076 96 109 15
Covington 6330 98 158 39
De Soto 43813 474 131 27
Forrest 18343 268 323 61
Franklin 1666 34 47 5
George 6179 81 75 9
Greene 2665 50 71 6
Grenada 4834 113 155 32
Hancock 10062 141 140 22
Harrison 44093 578 612 81
Hinds 47341 682 860 140
Holmes 3881 94 117 20
Humphreys 1758 39 35 9
Issaquena 222 7 0 0
Itawamba 6201 115 136 24
Jackson 32118 398 334 41
Jasper 4186 66 46 2
Jefferson 1305 35 41 7
Jefferson Davis 2527 43 15 1
Jones 18117 251 293 45
Kemper 1893 42 50 10
Lafayette 12519 156 202 57
Lamar 14646 142 65 12
Lauderdale 16196 326 499 108
Lawrence 3014 45 28 2
Leake 5339 92 103 17
Lee 23198 255 224 43
Leflore 6785 145 260 56
Lincoln 6888 142 210 41
Lowndes 14797 203 306 69
Madison 21129 290 416 72
Marion 5908 122 171 24
Marshall 8563 150 69 17
Monroe 9302 187 192 55
Montgomery 2621 61 74 11
Neshoba 8885 211 232 61
Newton 4930 86 89 15
Noxubee 2409 46 42 6
Oktibbeha 9191 141 272 40
Panola 9143 141 103 15
Pearl River 12602 248 234 42
Perry 2635 57 41 9
Pike 7830 160 178 44
Pontotoc 8729 118 88 13
Prentiss 6865 89 101 15
Quitman 1399 28 0 0
Rankin 31081 422 503 69
Scott 5928 101 119 19
Sharkey 790 21 45 8
Simpson 5976 122 169 20
Smith 3472 57 78 8
Stone 4560 67 100 14
Sunflower 5308 111 129 21
Tallahatchie 2812 53 50 7
Tate 6191 126 80 19
Tippah 6098 89 120 14
Tishomingo 5080 99 103 28
Tunica 2265 41 20 3
Union 8174 104 133 23
Walthall 2959 70 69 14
Warren 9040 184 175 38
Washington 9123 171 213 41
Wayne 4985 73 82 13
Webster 2683 51 66 14
Wilkinson 1674 41 25 6
Winston 4280 96 135 39
Yalobusha 3436 49 83 22
Yazoo 7046 94 152 20
Total 681,382 10,721 11,880 2,119