A woman in her 50s has become the eighth person in Carroll County to die from COVID-19.
The patient, who was being treated at Greenwood Leflore Hospital, died Sunday, according to Christine Hemphill, a spokeswoman for the hospital. The patient had underlying health problems, Hemphill said.
The death was reported in Tuesday’s update by the Mississippi State Department of Health.
The patient was African American. She had not been living at a nursing home, which had been the case for the previous six individuals to die in Carroll County from the respiratory disease.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death.
No new deaths were reported for Leflore County, where 22 have died from the virus. Its last death to be reported occurred on May 13.
Leflore County is tied with Hinds County for the sixth-most deaths of the state’s 82 counties. Lauderdale County has experienced the most with 46, followed by Forrest County with 29.
As of Tuesday morning, Greenwood Leflore Hospital was treating 11 patients with the virus in its 16-bed COVID-19 unit, Hemphill said. Two of those patients are on ventilators to help them breathe.
There were 272 new cases and 27 new deaths added to Mississippi’s totals Tuesday. The state has confirmed more than 11,700 cases of COVID-19 since the outbreak began in March, and it has recorded 554 deaths.
