The Mississippi State Department of Health is reporting the state’s highest one-day rise in new COVID-19 cases in nearly three months.
Today’s report of 427 new cases—the most since 410 cases were reported on April 15th—brings the state’s total number of cases up to 323,641. The rise in cases is complimented by an uptick in hospitalizations as well. Dr. Anita Henderson, President of the Mississippi Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, pointed out that hospitalizations have risen by 55% in the past five days.
The increasing indicators come as Mississippi faces challenges in vaccinating its residents. At just around 30%, the state currently holds the lowest vaccination rate in the country. Health officials continue to stress the benefits of the vaccine as an overwhelming majority of new cases, deaths and hospitalizations are among unvaccinated individuals.
The continued push for vaccinations comes as the highly contagious Delta variant becomes the dominant strain of the virus in Mississippi and across the country.
With the confirmation of one additional death in today’s report, 7,437 Mississippians have passed away from the virus.
