The 50th death attributed to Covid-19 was recorded in Panola County last week, according to the daily updates posted on the website of the Mississippi State Department of Health.

Since that milestone was reached  three more deaths caused by the coronavirus have been reported by the MSDH as of Tuesday. Data kept since March 11 shows 2,373 positive tests for coronavirus have been reported in the county, with about 10 percent of the cases requiring patients to be hospitalized.

Panola County remains under a mask mandate under an order issued by Gov. Tate Reeves for counties whose daily infection rate is deemed to have reached a level requiring the extra precaution in public places.

Daily death by county numbers fluctuates slightly because health officials are days, sometimes weeks, investigating reported deaths to determine if the fatality was caused by Covid-19. The Department of Health has said the state does not count deaths of individuals with Covid-19 as virus-caused without additional questions.

Statewide, as of Wednesday, Nov. 27, there have been 156,868 reported cases in Mississippi with 3,851 deaths. The state’s data says 128,746 are presumed to have recovered from the sickness.

The 2,457 new cases reported by the MSDH on Wednesday is the highest number in a single day since Nov. 21 when 1,972 cases were recorded.

Included in the state totals are 7,773 positive tests from residents of long term care facilities with 1,456 fatalities. In Panola County, there have been 60 cases in those facilities resulting in 11 deaths.

The state’s website offers a variety of statistical breakdowns, including gender and race data. About 49 percent of all coronavirus cases and deaths in the state have been White, compared to 43 percent of infections and 47 percent of deaths among Black citizens. Asian, Hispanic, and American Indian numbers, along with a few cases were race could not be determined.

Click here to access the MSDH page with the Coronavirus Disease 2019 overview.