Leflore County has recorded its 99th death from COVID-19.
The death was one of 79 reported Tuesday by the Mississippi State Department of Health, a single-day record for the pandemic.
The Leflore County victim died between Nov. 20 and Dec. 16, and the death was later attributed to COVID-19 by a coroner’s death certificate report. The individual was Black, but no other information was immediately available about the person.
Mississippi health officials have been warning that they anticipated a surge in deaths to accompany the recent surge in cases of the coronavirus. The state has been routinely adding more than 2,000 cases a day in recent weeks. On Tuesday, there were 2,191 more cases reported.
The state has experienced nearly 200,000 cases of COVID-19, and the death count stands at 4,490.
For the week ending Sunday, Mississippi averaged 7.21 new cases of COVID-19 daily per 10,000 residents, according to the data tracked by the Brown School of Public Health. That’s the 14th highest infection rate in the country.
In Leflore County, the rate was 6.08, and in neighboring Carroll County 6.89. All 82 of Mississippi’s counties are in Brown’s highest risk, or red, category.
As of Tuesday morning, Greenwood Leflore Hospital was treating 11 patients with COVID-19, according to Christine Hemphill, a hospital spokeswoman. Six were on ventilators to help them breathe.
Mississippi's COVID-19 cases and deaths as of Dec. 21, 2020
