State health officials are warning of a potential uptick in COVID-19 cases as the holidays approach, noting an ominous rise in testing that has occurred in the past week, and that last year’s transmission rates followed a similar pattern.
Mississippi State Department of Health officials said cases, deaths and hospitalizations have been declining, but the number of new positive cases in the past seven days shows an increase for the first time since August.
“Rebound in testing volumes last week — we will monitor closely,” State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs tweeted Monday.
He also noted that most counties are showing a decline in the transmission of the virus, “but sadly COVID is not over yet,” and that the spread increased last year after Halloween.
Most Southwest Mississippi counties are showing only “moderate” transmission, reflecting the decline in cases.
The exceptions are Franklin and Lawrence counties, where the spread of the virus is classified as “substantial.”
The state reported just 360 newly confirmed infections on Monday and 2,210 for the past week, which is far below the one-day peak of 5,000 new cases at the height of the fourth wave of the pandemic, which began in late July.
The vast majority of cases, hospitalizations and deaths continues to be among unvaccinated patients, health officials said.
Health officials are urging residents to get vaccinated against COVID-19 if they haven’t already.
More than 1,384,515 people have now been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in Mississippi, adding that most COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths are now among unvaccinated people, according to the health department.
