COVID-19 cases down from prior week's total
Neshoba County has recorded 426 new COVID-19 cases and one new death in the past week, according to the Mississippi State Department of Health’s Tuesday, Aug. 17 report.
Drive-thru COVID-19 testing at Neshoba General began on Aug. 4 after the Neshoba County Fair and has resulted in over 600 positive cases.
About 80,000 to 100,000 people attend the Neshoba County Fair annually. The county’s population is about 30,000.
Cases were up 10 percent two weeks ago and this week down to 8 percent.
The increase in positive cases has here coincided with a surge in COVID-19 cases nationwide that health leaders say was due to the delta variant of the virus.
Neshoba General has conducted 2,573 drive-thru tests between Aug. 4 and Aug.16 and of those tests 673 came back positive, according to Director of Marketing and Public Relations Annette Watkins.
Check Neshoba General’s Facebook page or call (601) 663-1221 for up-to-date information on scheduling a screening.
A total of 5,475 cases of COVID-19 and 183 deaths have been reported in Neshoba County since the pandemic began in March 2020.
Philadelphia Mayor James Young said he is watching the COVID-19 numbers rise but has not yet instituted any COVID-198 orders or recommendations as of Tuesday morning regarding the rising numbers.
“Our numbers have been extremely high,” Young said. “I’m seeing probably 65% of people in businesses have their masks on.”
He said most people seem to be taking the threat of COVID-19 seriously but he is dismayed by some who do not.
“Words can’t describe what is going on in my head as to how we respond to this pandemic,” Young said. “The needless loss.”
The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians has reported 129 new positive cases of COVID-19 and no new deaths in the past week as of Aug. 16, with the total number of positive cases for the Tribe standing at 2,172 with 114 deaths since the pandemic began in March 2020. Ten new hospitalizations have been reported.
As of Tuesday, 22% of Neshoba County’s population is fully vaccinated, according to MSDH, and 27% of the county’s population had received one of the 14,081 total doses of COVID-19 vaccines administered in the county.
Vaccinations are being administered at Walgreens at 1002 W. Beacon Street and Walmart at 1005 W. Beacon Street, according to MSDH. Find vaccines near you.
Statewide, since the pandemic began in March 2020, 235,226 confirmed COVID-19 cases have been recorded by the MSDH along with 157,083 probable cases, totaling 392,309 cases. There have been 5,419 confirmed COVID-19 deaths, along with 2,461 probable deaths, totaling 7,880 deaths.