Another death from COVID-19 has pushed Leflore County’s total to 74 since the outbreak began more than five months ago.
The death was reported Wednesday by the Mississippi State Department of Health.
The victim was Black, but no other details were immediately available.
African Americans have been accounting for a rising proportion of the deaths in Leflore County. Sixty of those who have died from the virus, or 81%, were Black. That exceeds the county’s estimated Black population of 75%.
Experts attribute the disparity to a lack of access to health care and a higher likelihood for underlying health problems among African Americans, which makes them more susceptible to bad outcomes if they contract the disease.
In all, Mississippi added 58 deaths Wednesday to its total number of 2,373 COVID-19 fatalities. That’s just behind the single-day record set Tuesday of 67.
Forty-four of the latest reported deaths occurred between July 21 and Aug. 18 and were subsequently attributed to COVID-19 through coroners’ death certificate reports.
Leflore County continues to hold the second-highest infection rate of the state’s 82 counties.
For the week ending Monday, Leflore County has averaged almost 10.54 new cases of COVID-19 daily per 10,000 residents, according to the Harvard Global Health Institute. That is almost four times higher than Mississippi’s nation-leading average. Only Issaquena County’s average is higher at 71.05 per 10,000.
Leflore County’s infection rate soared after posting a one-day spike of 148 cases on Aug. 19. Since then, the daily increase has fallen back to normal. Seven new cases were added Wednesday. It will take, however, until later this week for the Aug. 19 spike to cycle out.
As of Wednesday morning, Greenwood Leflore Hospital was treating 10 patients with the virus, according to Christine Hemphill, a hospital spokeswoman. Three of them were on ventilators to help them breathe.
With all of the public schools in Leflore County using only distance learning this month, the county has seen little in the way of school-related transmission of the coronavirus. As of last Friday, only six teachers and no students had tested positive for COVID-19 since the start of school. Seven teachers were in quarantine last week but no students.
In neighboring Carroll County, where both public and private schools have been holding in-person classes, the situation was also stable. Only one student and no teachers had tested positive since the start of school, and last week seven students and one teacher were in quarantine.
Mississippi's COVID-19 cases and deaths as of Aug. 25, 2020
