As time passes it becomes increasingly clear that nursing homes are bearing the brunt of the coronavirus in Mississippi, but Pike County has avoided a severe outbreak in its long-term care facilities.
“We have 121 ongoing outbreaks among long-term care facilities,” State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs said Tuesday, noting that testing in nursing homes has been successful thus far.
“As of yesterday we had completed about 60% of nursing homes,” he said.
State health officials have identified 201 infections in Pike County and 11 deaths since March 11. Six of those deaths were among nursing home residents.
Lincoln County, however, has a much higher number of dead and most of that may be attributed to outbreaks among nursing home residents. Health officials had identified 248 infections there and 21 deaths, 16 of which were among nursing home residents.
There have been just 27 infections identified in nearby Franklin County and two deaths, one of which was a resident of a nursing home, according to state statistics.
There have been just 27 infections identified in nearby Franklin County and two deaths, one of which was a resident of a nursing home, according to state statistics.
In Wilkinson County, where officials have identified 85 infections, only two the nine deaths there are among residents of nursing homes.
But Southwest Mississippi counties are significantly better-off than central Mississippi counties, where officials initially suspected outbreaks among workers at industrial chicken plants accounted for many of the infections.
Now it seems nursing home cases are to blame.
That trend extends to other counties as well. In Forrest County, home to Hattiesburg, 503 people tested positive and 26 of the 37 deaths are among nursing home residents.
That trend continues in Lauderdale County, where 37 of 56 deaths are among that population. Eighteen of 33 deaths in Neshoba County are among nursing home residents and in Leflore County in the Delta, 15 of 27 deaths are among that population.
Dobbs has repeatedly discussed the importance of increased disease testing and monitoring, specifically to identify asymptomatic carriers of coronavirus.
“We have tested thus far 154,624 times and of that number 6,805 were serology tests, blood tests that look for the antibodies,” he said. “Of that number, only 95 returned positive.”
Gov. Tate Reeves said continued testing will help reduce the spread of the virus.
“It’s critical to contain the virus long-term,” he said. “Targeted, aggressive testing like this is why our hospitalization rate is going down.”
A University of Mississippi Medical Center mobile testing site is returning to Pike County on Tuesday. Anyone with symptoms of coronavirus or who may have been exposed to a coronavirus patient can be screened for testing by calling UMMC or through the C Spire Health app.
“I do not know what the virus is going to do throughout the summer. I do not know how the fall is going to look,” Reeves said. “No one else knows for sure, either. It’s going to take continued effort, continued engagement and continued empathy by all of us.”
Reeves said the number of new cases and deaths identified each day is not decreasing and the economy is hurting.
“That number is not declining significantly and should serve as a warning to all of us that this disease is not disappearing,” Reeves said. “We expect a short recession and a long recovery because the damage is very deep.”
The health department distributed enough doses of the anti-viral drug Remdesevir to 29 hospitals throughout the state this week to serve 251 patients.
Dobbs said continued community transmission is contributing to the spread of coronavirus, which has not slowed by any reasonable margin.
“We did last week have an event at a funeral, where a contagious patient did go to a funeral and exposed many, many people, so please, this is not over,” Dobbs said. “We don’t want a funeral to lead to more funerals, which we actually have seen. So please, honor social distancing.”
