COVID cases up by 42 over the week

The number of COVID-19 infections continues to go up in Mississippi.

State health officials continue to urge Mississippians to get vaccinated for COVID-19.

In the past week, there have been 13,501 new infections statewide and 392 new deaths caused by the dread disease, according to the Mississippi Department of Health. Only 2 percent of overall cases were among vaccinated people.

The number of COVID-19 cases reported in Kemper County by the Mississippi Department of Health increased by 42 in the past week.

Kemper County has 1,363 infections reports since March 2020. That has gone up from 1,272 in the past week. There has also been three additional deaths related to COVID-19 in the past week, moving the total of 38 people in Kemper County being taken by the dread disease.

Mississippi’s low vaccinated rate, with about 38% of the state’s 3 million people fully inoculated against COVID-19, is driving a surge in cases and hospitalizations that is overwhelming medical workers. The workers are angry and exhausted over both the workload and refusal by residents to embrace the vaccine.