The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed the life of another Tallahatchie County resident, raising the total of local fatalities to 28, and new recommendations have been issued by the governor and state health officer.
The latest death of a Tallahatchian was reflected in statistics released Tuesday by the Mississippi State Department of Health. It was the first reported local COVID-19 related death since Nov. 11.
In its daily update on Thursday, MSDH reported that a total of 1,054 Tallahatchians have tested positive for the virus. The first local positive case was reported on March 23. The first local COVID-related death was reported on April 17.
Statewide on Thursday, MSDH reported that the number of new daily COVID-19 infections was 2,283, with 42 new deaths.
The number hospitalized with a confirmed case of the virus was 1,166 — the highest single-day total yet, according to the report. Another 120 hospital patients had a suspected infection. Of the positive cases, 301 were being treated in an intensive care unit.
A total of 172,955 Mississippians have been infected with the virus since March, with 4,083 dying, based on Thursday’s report. An estimated 136,627 of the infected persons have recovered.
Based on Thursday's MSDH report, the total number of positive COVID-19 cases in area counties is as follows, with the previous day's figures in parenthesis and the number of deaths listed in bold:
» Coahoma: 1,689 (1,672) 46
» Grenada: 1,587 (1,558) 49
» Lafayette: 3,593 (3,573) 63
» Leflore: 2,270 (2,248) 95
» Panola: 2,594 (2,576) 60
» Quitman: 533 (529) 7
» Sunflower: 2,050 (2,042) 57
» Tallahatchie: 1,054 (1,047) 28
» Yalobusha: 812 (807) 29
Gov. Tate Reeves on Wednesday issued the following updated COVID-19 mandates:
In an attempt to slow the spread of COVID-19 statewide, for social gatherings where social distancing is not possible, crowds will be limited to a group of no more than ten in a single space indoors. For outdoor social gatherings, no more than 50 people should be in close proximity.
Face coverings in schools are also required statewide whenever social distancing is not possible. They are also required when indoors and interacting with the public in the following counties:
Adams, Alcorn, Amite, Attala, Bolivar, Calhoun, Carroll, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Clarke, Clay, Coahoma, Copiah, Covington, De Soto, Forrest, Franklin, Grenada, Harrison, Hinds, Holmes, Itawamba, Jackson, Jefferson, Jefferson Davis, Jones, Kemper, Lafayette, Lamar, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Lee, Leflore, Lincoln, Lowndes, Madison, Marion, Marshall, Monroe, Montgomery, Neshoba, Noxubee, Oktibbeha, Panola, Pearl River, Perry, Pontotoc, Prentiss, Rankin, Scott, Simpson, Stone, Tate, Tippah, Tishomingo, Union, Washington, Webster, Winston, Yalobusha and Yazoo counties.
Indoor sports venues for K-12 extracurricular events will be limited to the lesser of four spectators per student participant or 250 ticketed spectators. Other indoor arenas will be limited to the lesser of ten percent seating capacity or 1,000 attendees.
"All of these measures are important, and I hope that the people of Mississippi will make an honest effort to participate in slowing the spread of the virus," Reeves said.
Meanwhile, State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs urges Mississippians to avoid any non-essential contact with those outside their immediate household, noting that we are safest at home, in small groups and outdoors. He also asked that a mask be worn in public and that people keep a safe distance from others.
Dobbs said all residents of Mississippi should avoid any social gathering that includes individuals outside of the immediate family or household. MSDH recommends that Mississippians only participate in work, school or other absolutely essential activities, and avoid gatherings such as social events, sporting events, in-person church services and weddings and funerals unless they involve only close family (preferably outdoors).
For the very latest statistics, visit https://www.healthyms.com/covid19.
For updated worldwide statistics, visit https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html.
