MSDH: People 65+, immunocompromised should avoid mass gatherings through July 26
Jul. 9—TUPELO — Rising numbers of COVID-19 cases has spurred the Mississippi State Department of Health to issue new COVID-19 safety guidance.
MSDH is asking all Mississippi residents 65 and older, along with anyone who has chronic underlying health conditions, to avoid indoor mass gatherings, regardless of vaccination status, through July 26.
MSDH officials are also recommending all unvaccinated individuals wear a mask when indoors in public settings to help slow the spread of the virus.
"We have a lot of COVID circulating again, unfortunately," State Health Office Dr. Thomas Dobbs said during a Friday afternoon press conference. "And it's pretty much all Delta. We know it's very contagious, it may have an increased mortality effect as well, and although the vast majority of cases we're seeing are in the unvaccinated."
State Epidemiologist Dr. Paul Byers compared the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases between two recent two-week periods. From June 10-23, a total of 1,843 cases were confirmed. In the past two weeks, June 24-July 7, a total of 2,467 cases were confirmed. MSDH reported 416 new COVID-19 cases on Friday alone.
"We're seeing a pretty alarming increase in the number of cases, hospitalizations and outbreaks across the state," Dobbs said.
Luckily, deaths as a result of COVID have not followed the same trend. From June 10-23 there were 33 deaths, while from June 24-July 7 there were 11 deaths. But Byers warned that deaths often lag behind increases in cases by a couple of weeks.
Although Dobbs said the health care system is not overwhelmed, there have been increases in hospitalizations and ICU bed usage.
The increases are largely a result of outbreaks of the Delta variant, which originated in India.
"We have seen pretty much an entire takeover of the Delta variant for our transmission," Dobbs said. "We know that it's far more contagious than strains that have previously been identified in our state."
The health department's weekly COVID-19 variant update, which was last updated on July 6, reported 137 confirmed Delta variant cases.
In late May/early June, Delta cases began creeping into MSDH variant testing reports. By the end of June, there had been a rapid transition. Delta was the cause of a majority of cases and officials warned that it was the dominant strain in Mississippi ahead of the Fourth of July holiday weekend.
As the new guidance is issued, Byers said the transmission of Delta is "very reminiscent of some that we saw in the early days of the pandemic."
"We're seeing more outbreaks and transmission occurring in church groups, in school and summer enrichment programs, in funeral gatherings, in the workplace, in other gatherings where individuals who are largely unvaccinated are getting together," Byers said.
Only 31% of Mississippians are fully vaccinated, while 34% have received at least one dose as of July 9.
"Our collective under-vaccination in the state has put us all at risk, especially the most vulnerable," Dobbs said, explaining the need for new safety guidance.
"Because so many folks have not taken on the vaccination to protect the state in general, we do want to make sure that those who are vulnerable have an opportunity to protect themselves," he added.
State health officials continue to recommend that all Mississippians age 12 and older get vaccinated.
MSDH's walk-in and drive-thru vaccination sites are transitioning over to county health departments across the state as in an effort to expand local vaccine availability.
The state health department will continue to offer vaccination opportunities in rural areas throughout Mississippi via pop-up vaccination sites. Dates and locations for pop-up vaccinations can be found at covidvaccine.umc.edu.
