Carroll County has recorded its 15th death from COVID-19 as the surge of cases of the virus continues throughout Mississippi.
The death was one of 18 reported Thursday by the Mississippi State Department of Health. The victim was white, but other information about the person was not immediately available.
State officials have been worried that Thanksgiving might exacerbate the current surge in COVID-19, as households, ignoring the warnings of health experts, gathered with extended family and friends indoors to share the traditional holiday meal.
The spike of 1,763 cases on the eve of the holiday underscored those concerns.
Meanwhile, the Carroll County School District reported to the Health Department that four more students at J.Z. George High School tested positive last week for COVID-19. In addition, 41 students were in quarantine due to their exposure to the virus, an increase of more than 70%. Since school began in August, 13 students and six teachers or staff members have contracted the virus.
At the county’s only other school, Marshall Elementary, seven students were quarantined last week, compared to just one the week before.
Carroll County has been experiencing one of the state’s highest infection rates recently. For the week ending Tuesday, the county averaged 7.32 new cases of COVID-19 daily per 10,000 residents, according to data tracked by the Harvard Global Health Institute and the Brown School of Public Health. That ranks fourth out of 82 counties.
By comparison, Leflore County averaged 4.0 new cases daily during that same time period, the state’s 45th highest. The state average is 4.20.
The weekly reporting by the schools was impacted by the Thanksgiving holiday break, according to the Department of Health. Numbers were not reported for several schools in the Greenwood Leflore Consolidated School District, nor for Delta Streets Academy and Carroll Academy. It was unclear whether the holiday caused the two private schools to not report. Neither had reported their COVID-19 numbers to the Health Department in the previous eight weeks, despite a directive of state health officer, Dr. Thomas Dobbs, that requires all Mississippi schools to do so.
One private school that did report, Pillow Academy, said four more students tested positive for the coronavirus last week, bringing the total to 25 since school began in August. Twelve students were in quarantine as well, three more than the week before. No additional employees at the school, however, tested positive for COVID-19.
