The death of another Tallahatchie County resident has been linked to COVID-19, the Mississippi State Department of Health reported Friday afternoon.
The latest local fatality, one of 12 which health department statistics show occurred between July 12 and July 23, as identified from death certificate reports, raises Tallahatchie County's pandemic death toll to 61.
The recent death was the first of a Tallahatchian attributed to COVID-19 by MSDH since Feb. 17.
MSDH's most recent weekly report of county-by-county data, released July 24, showed that since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been 3,408 total cases of Tallahatchie County residents testing positive for COVID-19.
The first positive case of COVID-19 in Tallahatchie County was reported on March 23, 2020, and the first local death was announced on April 17, 2020.
Statewide since March 2020, there have been 875,132 positive cases and 12,648 deaths linked to the pandemic.
According to recent reporting by USA Today, which cited U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics, the BA.5 subvariant of omicron has dominated the summer wave of COVID-19 in the U.S., making up nearly 80% of new cases.
"While some people don't experience any symptoms with BA.5, experts say those who do can expect to feel sick for few days up to a few weeks," the newspaper reported.
Some of the most typically reported symptoms with new coronavirus cases are runny nose, cough, headaches, muscle aches, sore throat and fatigue.
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As of Monday, July 25, free at-home COVID-19 tests became available at all MSDH county health departments.
Each family can receive eight tests (four packages) of BinaxNOW antigen rapid self-tests per month. No doctor’s note or documentation of any kind is necessary.
Tests may be picked up without an appointment during regular health department hours. To find hours of operation of a county health department near you, visit HealthyMS.com/locations.
Tests may also be ordered for delivery through https://www.covid.gov/tests/.
Anyone who has a positive home test is asked to report it to MSDH online at HealthyMS.com/positive. Reporting test results helps MSDH monitor COVID-19 activity in the state.
For questions regarding at-home testing or reporting positive results, call the COVID-19 hotline at 877-978-6453.
