Positive cases of coronavirus have reached 34,622 with an increase of 1,031 from Wednesday evening to Thursday evening, according to data released today by the Mississippi State Dept. of Health.  A total of 1,215 deaths have been attributed to COVID-19 since the state began keeping numbers on March 11.

Panola County had an increase of 33 cases from Wednesday to Thursday, and now has a running total of 432 infections. Many of those were never seriously ill and more have recovered. Six patients in the county have died, one having contracted the illness in a long-term care facility. Statewide, 586 deaths have been attributed to infections in those places of care.

Gov. Tate Reeves, in news conferences each day this week, has continued to implore Mississippians to limit their travel, stay away from group activities, and wear face masks in public. He announced Thursday there will be new regulations beginning Monday that will require masks to be worn in public and retail businesses in the following counties:  Hinds, Desoto, Madison, Harrison, Rankin, Jackson, Washington, Sunflower, Grenada, Claiborne, Jefferson, Wayne, and Quitman.

Under the new order no more than 10 people can gather indoors, and no more than 20 people can gather outdoors.  The Governor has also expanded restrictions announced earlier in Attala, Jasper, Lauderdale, Leake, Neshoba, Newton, and Scott counties.

Some city’s have enacted masks ordinances on their own, including Jackson, Tupelo, Starkville, Oxford, Hattiesburg, Greenwood, Columbus, West Point, Natchez, Grenada, and Greenville.

Fines for individuals and businesses vary around the state. Batesville aldermen did not discuss a mask ordinance at their regular meeting on Tuesday.

Below is a list of reported infections by county:

 

Cases and Deaths by County

Totals of all reported cases since March 11, including those in long-term care (LTC) facilities.

County	Total Cases	Total Deaths	Total LTC Facility Cases	Total LTC Facility Deaths
Adams	347	19	44	11
Alcorn	94	2	1	1
Amite	108	3	13	2
Attala	383	24	89	19
Benton	44	0	1	0
Bolivar	394	18	37	6
Calhoun	160	5	23	4
Carroll	174	11	45	9
Chickasaw	293	19	35	11
Choctaw	75	4	0	0
Claiborne	300	11	43	8
Clarke	217	25	19	9
Clay	256	11	2	1
Coahoma	219	6	1	0
Copiah	642	15	29	3
Covington	429	5	3	0
Desoto	1865	19	20	5
Forrest	972	43	95	29
Franklin	54	2	3	1
George	112	3	1	0
Greene	112	10	34	6
Grenada	569	8	43	5
Hancock	141	13	9	4
Harrison	1096	15	98	8
Hinds	2824	49	151	17
Holmes	579	41	98	20
Humphreys	161	10	18	6
Issaquena	10	1	0	0
Itawamba	145	8	34	7
Jackson	744	18	47	6
Jasper	271	6	1	0
Jefferson	122	3	0	0
Jefferson Davis	118	4	3	1
Jones	1185	49	157	34
Kemper	183	14	38	9
Lafayette	464	4	42	1
Lamar	522	7	3	2
Lauderdale	954	81	202	52
Lawrence	202	2	0	0
Leake	621	20	3	0
Lee	600	22	66	15
Leflore	528	56	173	41
Lincoln	519	35	114	26
Lowndes	536	13	25	6
Madison	1419	36	135	18
Marion	324	12	15	2
Marshall	276	3	6	0
Monroe	439	35	105	29
Montgomery	151	3	0	0
Neshoba	1039	76	104	29
Newton	367	10	7	1
Noxubee	277	8	15	3
Oktibbeha	589	28	132	18
Panola	432	6	2	1
Pearl River	281	32	50	12
Perry	79	4	0	0
Pike	488	20	41	10
Pontotoc	339	6	3	1
Prentiss	117	3	24	3
Quitman	97	1	0	0
Rankin	1063	15	53	0
Scott	809	15	14	2
Sharkey	47	0	1	0
Simpson	384	3	2	0
Smith	237	12	52	8
Stone	73	2	2	1
Sunflower	470	8	1	0
Tallahatchie	178	4	3	1
Tate	333	13	28	9
Tippah	144	11	0	0
Tishomingo	97	1	2	0
Tunica	121	3	12	2
Union	246	11	20	8
Walthall	249	7	2	1
Warren	577	20	39	9
Washington	700	10	13	1
Wayne	560	18	31	3
Webster	134	11	52	10
Wilkinson	96	9	5	2
Winston	296	11	38	8
Yalobusha	202	8	35	7
Yazoo	548	6	20	2
Total	34,622	1,215	2,927	586

The numbers in this table are provisional. County case numbers and deaths may change as investigation finds new or additional information about residence.

Case Classifications

Mississippi investigates and reports both probable and confirmed cases and deaths according to the CSTE case definition.

	Confirmed	Probable	Total
Cases	34,321	301	34,622
Deaths	1,195	20	1,215

Confirmed cases and deaths are generally determined by positive PCR tests, which detect the presence of ongoing coronavirus infection.

Probable cases are those who test positive by other testing methods such as antibody or antigen, and have recent symptoms consistent with COVID-19, indicating a recent infection.

Probable deaths are those individuals with a designation of COVID-19 as a cause of death on the death certificate, but where no confirmatory testing was performed.