A man in his 70s is the 70th person from Leflore County to die from COVID-19.
The patient died Thursday at Greenwood Leflore Hospital and had multiple underlying health problems, according to Christine Hemphill, a hospital spokeswoman.
The death was one of 37 reported Saturday by the Mississippi State Department of Health.
The Leflore County victim was Black.
African Americans recently have been accounting for a rising proportion of the county’s deaths. With the latest fatality, 56, or 80%, of all the people to die in Leflore County from the virus 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.
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 or fatal illness. Nursing homes are particularly vulnerable to bad outcomes because of the age and physical condition of their residents.
Riverview Nursing & Rehabilitation Center remains the only nursing home in Greenwood with an active outbreak of COVID-19. Golden Age Inc. was taken off the list this past week.
Riverview reported to the Department of Health that an additional four employees but no additional residents had tested positive during the week ending Thursday. During the current outbreak, which is now six weeks long, 17 residents have tested positive, two of whom have died. Thirteen employees have also tested positive.
Statewide, Mississippi added 825 new cases of the virus Saturday. It has the third-highest rate of infection in the nation, according to the Harvard Global Health Institute. Over a seven-day period ending Thursday, the state averaged 2.7 new cases daily per 10,000 residents.
At 3.5 per 10,000 residents, the infection rate in Leflore County has the 27th highest out of the 82 counties.
Mississippi's COVID-19 cases and deaths as of Aug. 14, 2020
