The 13th victim of COVID-19 in Leflore County is the youngest yet.
A woman in her 40s died Monday at Greenwood Leflore Hospital, according to Christine Hemphill, a hospital spokeswoman. The patient had underlying health problems, Hemphill said.
The death was included in the report released Thursday by the Mississippi State Department of Health.
The patient’s death is a rarity with the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
Although the infection, based on confirmed cases, has been spread fairly evenly across adults of all ages, it has largely only proved fatal to those who are older. While those under the age of 50 account for 48% of the state’s 5,153 cases of COVID-19, they represent less than 4% of deaths — eight out of the 201 recorded by the Department of Health.
As with the dozen deaths before her, the latest to die in Leflore County was African American, according to the Department of Health.
African Americans have accounted for 53% of the cases and 63% of the deaths in Mississippi, far above the state’s overall African American population of 38%. Health experts have said the gap, which is occurring nationwide, reflects the disproportionate share of African Americans who have underlying health conditions — such as heart disease or diabetes — or who have less access to medical care.
Meanwhile, Greenwood Leflore Hospital is nearing capacity at its specially created 16-bed COVID-19 unit.
It had 15 patients as of Thursday morning. Ten patients have COVID-19, and five of them were on ventilators to help them breathe, according to Hemphill. The other five patients were suspected of having contracted the virus, but none of them was on a ventilator.
Leflore County COVID cases and deaths as of April 21, 2020
Mississippi COVID-19 cases and deaths as of April 21, 2020
