The number of COVID-19 cases continues to rise in the Golden Triangle, particularly in Lowndes County, where more than 4,000 total cases have been reported as of Saturday.
Lowndes reported 4,128 cases, an increase of 621 cases between Dec. 16 and Saturday, according to Mississippi State Department of Health data. Oktibbeha County, meanwhile, saw 257 new cases in that time for a total of 3,242 cases since the pandemic began in March.
Clay County reported 123 new cases, bringing the county’s total to 1,268, and Noxubee County reported 57 new cases for a total of 900.
The new numbers come at a time when cases are increasing state and nationwide, with Mississippi reporting 1,365 new cases on Saturday alone. The state has seen a total of 206,388 cases since the pandemic began in March.
As of Saturday, there have been 85 COVID deaths in Lowndes County, 70 in Oktibbeha County, 30 in Clay County and 20 in Noxubee County since the pandemic began. Statewide, there have been 4,606 deaths.
Reporting of case numbers among school districts slowed during the holiday season while students and staff are out of school. Columbus Municipal School District Superintendent Cherie Labat told The Dispatch last week CMSD would resume reporting after the holidays, while neither Lowndes County and Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated school districts have updated their online reporting numbers since Dec. 14, when they reported 24 and 26 cases respectively during the week of Dec. 7-11.
Schools are required to report case numbers to MSDH, and if a number of cases is lower than five, MSDH reports it as 1-5. West Point Consolidated School District reported between three and 15 new cases among faculty and staff and between 10 and 26 new cases among students the week of Dec. 14-18. Noxubee County School District did not report cases numbers for the week.
South Haven Mennonite School and Annunciation Catholic School reported no new cases. No other area private schools reported for the week.
Mississippi University for Women has also not updated its numbers since it reported five new cases among students and six among staff the week of Dec. 18, though Mississippi State University reported 53 active cases — 33 among students and 20 among employees — as of Dec. 22.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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