A man in his 70s has become the 61st person in Leflore County to die of COVID-19.
The patient died Tuesday at Greenwood Leflore Hospital, according to Christine Hemphill, a hospital spokeswoman. As with the vast majority of people to die from the respiratory disease, he had multiple underlying health problems.
He was African American.
Blacks have accounted for 47, or 77%, of the COVID-19 fatalities in Leflore County, nearly mirroring the county’s estimated Black population of 75%.
His death was one of 51 reported Wednesday by the Mississippi State Department of Health. Nineteen of the deaths, though, occurred between July 11 and July 29, but their cause was later confirmed by death certificates to be related to COVID-19.
The state’s total death count now stands at 1,804.
Meanwhile, the surge of cases of the virus continues in the state, with 1,245 added Wednesday. Mississippi ranks only behind Florida in the rate of new infections, according to the Harvard Global Health Institute. The trends prompted Gov. Tate Reeves this week to reluctantly extend to all of Mississippi his mandate requiring people to wear masks in public.
As of Monday, the Harvard database shows, Leflore County had the 22nd highest infection rate in the state out of the 82 counties. For the previous seven days, Leflore County averaged 5.27 new cases daily per 10,000 residents.
Greenwood Leflore Hospital was treating 12 patients with COVID-19 as of Wednesday morning, according to Hemphill. Two of the patients were on ventilators to help them breathe.
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.
Mississippi's COVID-19 cases and deaths as of Aug. 4, 2020
