Another day, another sad refrain from COVID-19’s continued assault on nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.
The Mississippi State Department of Health reported Wednesday that two more Leflore County residents of these facilities have died, raising the county’s total death count to 36.
One of the individuals was African American, the other white. Since the pandemic reached Leflore County in March, of those who have had fatal reactions, 33 have been black, and three white.
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.
Nursing homes and other long-term care facilities are particularly vulnerable. They have represented a steadily rising share of COVID-19 deaths in Leflore County and around the state.
Sixty-four percent of those who have died from the respiratory disease in Leflore County had been residents of a long-term care facility. Statewide, the facilities represent 52% of all deaths.
The Department of Health was expected on Wednesday for the first time to release the names of long-term care facilities with active outbreaks, but those had still not been produced by early evening. There are 126 facilities in the state that currently have at least one resident or employee infected with the virus.
Last week, a state judge ruled in favor of a Hattiesburg newspaper, the Pine Belt News, which had sued the Department of Health for refusing to identify the facilities, saying the secrecy was a violation of the state’s Public Records Act. The Health Department has said it would comply with the judge’s decision.
Overall, there were 302 new cases and 15 new deaths added to Mississippi’s totals Wednesday.
The state has now exceeded 16,300 cases of COVID-19 since the outbreak began, and it has recorded 782 deaths. As of Sunday, it was presumed that 11,203 of those infected have recovered.
As of Wednesday morning, three patients were being treated in Greenwood Leflore Hospital’s COVID-19 unit. Two have the virus, one of whom was on a ventilator to help the patient breathe. The third patient was suspected of being infected.
Leflore County has the fourth-most deaths of the state’s 82 counties. Lauderdale County leads with 68, followed by Neshoba County with 44.
Mississippi's COVID-19 cases and deaths as of June 2, 2020
