Despite Slight Rise in COVID Cases, Numbers Still on Downward Trend

In the last week, Lafayette County has had 52 positive cases of COVID-19, according to the Mississippi State Department of Health, up from 44 new cases the week prior.

Two of the cases were of the newer 1.1.7 United Kingdom variant.

There have been a total of four cases that have come from a new variant – three from the UK variant, and one from the B.1.427 California variant.

According to the MSDH, there are 78 variant cases in the state as of Monday.

Lafayette County reported no additional COVID-19-related deaths last week.

Since March 2020, Lafayette County has had 5,980 cases of COVID-19 and 116 deaths.

Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi reported that there were nine COVID-19 patients in regular hospital beds and one COVID-19 patient in the ICU.

Statewide, hospitalizations for COVID-19 have dropped drastically since January when it peaked with 1,444 patients in a Mississippi hospital with the virus. As of Sunday, there were 163 people in a Mississippi hospital with COVID-19.

As of Sunday, MSDH reports that 20,137 people in Lafayette County have received their first COVID-19 vaccination, and 13,364 residents are fully vaccinated, making up about 25% of Lafayette County’s total population.

Meanwhile, the University of Mississippi has reported 15 new cases in the past week, with one faculty/staff member and 14 students testing positive. There are currently 10 active cases on campus, up from six active cases the previous week.

The Oxford School District and the Lafayette County School District each reported four new cases last week. The OSD had two teachers and two students test positive and the LCSD had only students test positive for the virus.