As Mississippi’s massive surge of new COVID-19 coronavirus cases continues to slowly come down from recent record highs, the number of Mississippians hospitalized with the virus has continued to climb and hit a new high this week.

Mississippi State Department of Health statistics show the previous record of hospitalizations was broken on Wednesday when 1,708 Mississippians were reportedly hospitalized with COVID-19.

The previous record was set on August 19, 2021, during the delta variant wave when 1,667 COVID-19 patients filled Mississippi hospital beds.

Also on Wednesday, the state reported 328 COVID-19 patients were in ICU beds, 192 on mechanical ventilators.

The state health department’s online tracker indicated only 16 ICU beds were available Wednesday across the entire state. In the past when bed availability has gotten tight, health officials say the number of beds is often less than the tracker indicates because in many cases patients who need ICU beds are being held in emergency rooms awaiting transfer to the ICU.