If you live in Mississippi and know 20 other people who do, chances are, one of you has been infected with the COVID-19 coronavirus already this month, state health statistics indicate. The good news is case numbers and hospitalizations appeared to dip slightly in recent days.

Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) officials reported Monday that 12,711 new coronavirus cases were found over the weekend.

Since January 1, 150,356 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 20 Mississippians has tested positive for the virus since the start of January.

The new cases reported Monday bring the total number of cases found in the state since the pandemic began to 694,093.

Although health experts say the 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 Sunday, 1,414 patients were hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19, the state health department reported. That was down slightly from Friday’s recent high mark of 1,531. At the peak during last summer’s delta variant wave hospitalizations hit a high mark of 1,667 on August 19, 2021.

MSDH reported 13 new deaths on Monday, bringing the total death toll to 10,734.

Through Monday, 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 Monday to 8,495. That’s a steep increase over Friday’s number and a new record, however, the figure is slightly misleading last week’s federal holiday shifted the full weekend results forward.

The 14-day, daily average of new cases dropped to 6,504 with Monday’s update. It was the first time that average had dipped since early December 2021, when case loads were less than one-tenth the current rate.

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	6008	125	89	18
Alcorn	8503	123	131	20
Amite	2791	59	57	9
Attala	4169	91	192	36
Benton	1981	43	47	10
Bolivar	8073	157	241	33
Calhoun	4053	52	44	7
Carroll	2331	42	52	11
Chickasaw	4811	80	61	15
Choctaw	1743	27	13	0
Claiborne	1974	42	46	9
Clarke	3705	96	132	32
Clay	4491	80	41	5
Coahoma	5705	116	138	14
Copiah	6136	97	109	15
Covington	6420	98	158	39
De Soto	44573	475	131	27
Forrest	18805	268	323	61
Franklin	1697	34	47	5
George	6362	81	75	9
Greene	2718	50	71	6
Grenada	4910	113	155	32
Hancock	10282	141	140	22
Harrison	44973	581	612	81
Hinds	47986	684	860	140
Holmes	3943	95	117	20
Humphreys	1778	39	35	9
Issaquena	232	7	0	0
Itawamba	6313	115	136	24
Jackson	32741	398	334	41
Jasper	4258	66	46	2
Jefferson	1331	35	41	7
Jefferson Davis	2554	43	15	1
Jones	18689	251	293	45
Kemper	1934	42	50	10
Lafayette	12868	157	202	57
Lamar	15065	142	65	12
Lauderdale	16460	326	499	108
Lawrence	3079	45	28	2
Leake	5434	93	103	17
Lee	23675	255	224	43
Leflore	6842	145	260	56
Lincoln	7003	142	210	41
Lowndes	15150	203	306	69
Madison	21428	290	416	72
Marion	6117	122	171	24
Marshall	8689	151	69	17
Monroe	9436	187	192	55
Montgomery	2656	61	74	11
Neshoba	9107	211	232	61
Newton	5021	86	89	15
Noxubee	2473	46	42	6
Oktibbeha	9318	141	272	40
Panola	9294	142	103	15
Pearl River	12958	248	234	42
Perry	2686	57	41	9
Pike	7921	160	178	44
Pontotoc	8835	118	88	13
Prentiss	6997	89	101	15
Quitman	1428	28	0	0
Rankin	31648	422	503	69
Scott	6019	101	119	19
Sharkey	828	21	45	8
Simpson	6028	122	169	20
Smith	3524	57	78	8
Stone	4687	67	100	14
Sunflower	5356	111	129	21
Tallahatchie	2846	53	50	7
Tate	6291	126	80	19
Tippah	6155	90	120	14
Tishomingo	5210	99	103	28
Tunica	2277	41	20	3
Union	8323	104	133	23
Walthall	3011	70	69	14
Warren	9154	184	175	38
Washington	9220	171	213	41
Wayne	5034	73	82	13
Webster	2713	51	66	14
Wilkinson	1688	41	25	6
Winston	4359	96	135	39
Yalobusha	3531	49	83	22
Yazoo	7278	94	152	20
Total	694,093	10,734	11,880	2,119