DCS updates COVID-19 numbers, state and county report
DeSoto County Schools’ weekly update on new coronavirus cases in the district indicated that 18 students have been tested positive for the virus in the week that ended Friday, Sept. 18.
Of the number, the most were at Lewisburg High School with eight. Hernando High School and Olive Branch Middle School each reported two new cases of the virus, with one each at DeSoto Central Middle, Pleasant Hill Elementary, Hernando Middle, Horn Lake High, Horn Lake Intermediate, and Lake Cormorant High School.
Olive Branch Middle has the most number of new quarantines with 45, followed by DeSoto Central Middle with 21 and Lewisburg High School with 20.
Districtwide, there were six new positive case reports among school staff members.
The complete list released by the DeSoto County School District is found on the district website.
Monday, Sept. 21, the Mississippi State Department of Health reported 192 additional positive case reports of coronavirus, but no new deaths, for a total of 93,556 positive tests in the Magnolia State with 2,810 having succumbed for reasons connected to COVID-19.
DeSoto County has reported 5,425 positive cases since the pandemic was first declared in March and 55 victims were connected to COVID-19, 13 of which were in long-term facilities. There have been 63 positive cases in all in the county’s long-term care facilities.
During the County Board of Supervisors meeting on Monday in Hernando, County EMS Director Mark Davis reminded board members the ICU units at the county’s two hospitals, Baptist Memorial Hospital-DeSoto in Southaven and Methodist Olive Branch Hospital, remain busy, but not due to coronavirus. Davis added the demand for testing through the hospitals has also gone down.
“Right now, Baptist-DeSoto has less than 20 admits, at 18, as of yesterday and Methodist has only 14 COVID-related admissions,” Davis told board members. “Baptist is down to testing less than 100 a day at their drive-through, so they are talking about cutting that back their hours. Methodist is down to doing it three days a week.”
