Coahoma County climbed to 830 cases of COVID-19 over the weekend but has not reported a new death from the disease in over two weeks.
And Mississippi reported a new low of 276 new cases on Monday and only 11 new deaths.
While the community has reported 830 total cases the Mississippi State Department of health estimates 78-percent have gotten well, leaving 183 active case among Coahoma's 22,628 residents.
Long-Term Care (LTC) facilities, such as nursing homes are considered high risk locations because their residents are older or in poor health and have added tall numbers to the community's COVID-19 count over the past few weeks. A single confirmed COVID-19 infection in an LTC facility resident, or more than one infection in employees or staff in a 14-day period constitutes an outbreak.
The following cases have been reported in local LTCs:
• Clarksdale Nursing Center – 4 staff cases, 1 resident case, 0 deaths.
• Delta Manor – 62 staff cases, 86 resident cases, 2 deaths.
• Greenbough Health and Rehabilitation Center – 16 staff cases, 23 resident cases, 1 death.
The county reported six new cases among LTC staff and nine new cases among residents over the weekend.
Frantic testing in the community just before school started across the state sent the case count to 830 cases as of Monday with more than 400 cases reported in July and just 200 cases reported in the first four months of the pandemic
Oddly Coahoma County has only recorded 13 deaths since the disease was reported locally on March 18, well below the percentage of counties reporting a similar number of cases.
As of Monday, 3.67-percent of the county’s 22,628 residents have contracted the coronavirus and only 0.057-percent of the community has died from the disease.
The Mississippi State Department of Health listed Coahoma County and 36 other counties as “Hot Spot” counties. Most of those counties are in the Mississippi Delta, Jackson and population center across the state such as Tupelo, Southaven, Starkville, Meridian, Hattiesburg and the Gulf Coast.
Those who test positive are being quarantined for two weeks and family members and co-workers can also be quarantined.
Several convenience stores in the area have closed after staff became infected. Major grocery stores and retail outlets remain open and are hiring replacement workers.
The pandemic began 153 days ago and at this point 99-percent of Coahoma County residents have gotten well.
The City of Clarksdale announced the extension of indoor and outdoor gathering, bar capacity and social distancing requirements and when businesses can sell alcohol on July 27.
The Numbers
Statewide there were only 276 new cases reported Monday, after the state reported below 600 cases on three days early last week.
The Mississippi State Department of Health has ramped up testing procedures across the state and most local healthcare providers offer the test for free and are reimbursed by the state.
Again, mMany of those reported sick have now gotten well. The Center for Disease Control said the typical case of COVID-19 can last up to two weeks, with those suffering severe cases being ill up to three or four weeks.
As of Thursday 541,254 people have been tested by the MSDH Public Health Laboratory for the disease. As of today, 13.37-percent of those tested across the state have tested positive.
The state has told those who have symptoms, and have been tested, to retest in two weeks as the test indication can be incorrect up to 30 percent of the time.
Mississippi seems to be getting more tests than many states. Urban areas of the state -- and nation -- are getting more testing. The more rural area of the nation -- the Midwest and Mountain States -- are reporting fewer cases of coronavirus. The Northeast -- particularly New York City -- and the eastern seaboard are reporting most of the country's cases.
Of the 72,412 cases now reported, the Mississippi State Department of Health said 56,577 have gotten well. That means 78.13-percent of the people who have gotten sick have recovered or there are only 15,835 known active cases in the state.
The number of new cases being reported locally also indicates many – especially young people -- may have the disease and just don’t know it. And they can still spread to disease to parents and grandparents.
Demographics from across the state and country also show the disease is more prevalent and under reported – for a variety of reasons – in minority communities.
As of today, 50.3-percent of the fatalities have been African American, 44-percent have been white and 5.7-percent have been others. The total cases by race have been 52.4-percent African American, 39.6-percent white and 8-percent other races.
Across the nation the Center for Disease Control reported 5,382,125 people or 1.64-percent of the nation’s 328.2 million people have contracted the disease and 169,350 or 3.1-percent of those infected have died.
County by County
The Mississippi State Department of Health and the University of Mississippi Medical Center have brought in mobile coronavirus testing unit to Coahoma County on four separate occasions and the Aaron E. Henry Center has also conducted testing in random communities.
Cases reported as of today in the following Mississippi counties were: Adams (669), Alcorn (457), Amite (249), Attala (551) Benton (167), Bolivar (1,224), Calhoun (435), Carroll (268), Chickasaw (513), Choctaw (141), Claiborne (414), Clarke (372), Clay (420), Coahoma (830), Copiah (987), Covington (666), Desoto (3,913), Forrest (1,924), Franklin (153), George (639), Greene (276), Grenada (870), Hancock (432), Harrison (2,804), Hinds (5,917), Holmes (957), Humphreys (313), Issaquena (28), Itawamba (427), Jackson (2,482), Jasper (432), Jefferson (198), Jeff Davis (255), Jones (2,002), Kemper (251), Lafayette (1,072), Lamar (1,297), Lauderdale (1,497), Lawrence (342), Leake (813), Lee (1,737), Leflore (998), Lincoln (879), Lowndes (1,140), Madison (2,556), Marion (713), Marshall (770), Monroe (883), Montgomery (369), Neshoba (1,328), Newton (588), Noxubee (486), Oktibbeha (1,183), Panola (1,143), Pearl River (613), Perry (262), Pike (984), Pontotoc (892), Prentiss (498), Quitman (279), Rankin (2,437), Scott (1,033), Sharkey (219), Simpson (861), Smith (422), Stone (256), Sunflower (1,116), Tallahatchie (568), Tate (774), Tippah (443), Tishomingo (476), Tunica (381), Union (772), Walthall (525), Warren (1,182), Washington (1,818), Wayne (810), Webster (257), Wilkinson (234), Winston (653), Yalobusha (326) and Yazoo (891).
County case numbers change as investigations find new information on a case's home county.
The state announced its first death due to coronavirus March 20. Fatalities attributed to the disease have been reported in Adams (28), Alcorn (5), Amite (6), Attala (25), Benton (1), Bolivar (40), Calhoun (9), Carroll (11), Chickasaw (19), Choctaw (4), Claiborne (14), Clarke (28), Clay (14), Coahoma (13), Copiah (30), Covington (16), Desoto (34), Forrest (57), Franklin (2), George (10), Greene (13), Grenada (27), Hancock (16), Harrison (38), Hinds (129), Holmes (50), Humphreys (12), Issaquena (2), Itawamba (10), Jackson (47), Jasper (11), Jefferson (8), Jeff Davis (7), Jones (65), Kemper (14), Lafayette (21), Lamar (22), Lauderdale (98), Lawrence (8), Leake (27), Lee (43), Leflore (70), Lincoln (45), Lowndes (42), Madison (74), Marion (22), Marshall (10), Monroe (55), Montgomery (10), Neshoba (96), Newton (12), Noxubee (12), Oktibbeha (42), Panola (18), Pearl River (42), Perry (8), Pike (38), Pontotoc (9), Prentiss (11), Quitman (1), Rankin (42), Scott (21), Sharkey (7), Simpson (36), Smith (13), Stone (6), Sunflower (29), Tallahatchie (11), Tate (30), Tippah (14), Tishomingo (12), Tunica (9), Union (19), Walthall (22), Warren (37), Washington (46), Wayne (21), Webster (13), Wilkinson (14), Winston (18), Yalobusha (10) and Yazoo (14) counties as of today.
The virus appears to be affecting the state's higher population areas such as the Gulf Coast, Jackson, Meridian metropolitan areas, Desoto County and Lee County more intensely. Communities that have had people travel to or from larger U.S. cities also appear to have a higher incident of the disease.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Your Clarksdale Press Register will keep readers posted as we learn more information and as news changes. All stories about coronavirus are being offered free to the community and will not be put behind the Clarksdale Press Register paywall.
