Delta variant remains major coronavirus threat
DeSoto County added three additional death reports related to coronavirus in Thursday morning’s case update from the Mississippi State Department of Health, or MSDH.
In DeSoto County, there have now been 286 victims whose deaths have been related to COVID-19 since the pandemic was declared in March 2020. Case numbers for DeSoto County are now at 23,762, the second-most of any Mississippi county. Hinds County has 24,906 cases and 455 people have died from coronavirus in that area.
Medical officials remain very concerned about bed space in hospitals being filled up with patients suffering from the Delta variant of coronavirus.
Wednesday, it was reported that there were only six open ICU beds in the entire state of Mississippi, according to a University of Mississippi Medical Center official.
Thursday, Methodist-Olive Branch Hospital reported no beds available. Four of the six ICU beds at the hospital contained COVID-19 patients. Baptist Memorial Hospital-DeSoto’s numbers were not immediately available. On Aug. 2, Baptist-DeSoto had 27 available ICU beds and six patients were being treated for coronavirus.
MSDH statistics painted a much better picture for beds on Thursday, reporting there were 68 ICU beds available at state medical centers and 77 patients in the 797 ICU beds were being treated for COVID-19.
Health officials continue to urge people who are eligible to get the coronavirus vaccine.
Elsewhere, national health officials Thursday were reporting that 93 percent of U.S. coronavirus cases are now of the Delta variant.
To our north, Shelby County, Tennessee officials reported there were 623 new cases there. The Mississippi total for coronavirus grew Thursday by 3,164 to a pandemic total of 356,055 cases.
Moderna vaccine officials said their COVID-19 vaccine remains effective for 93 percent six months after vaccination, but added a booster shot may be necessary prior to the winter season.
Marion, Arkansas school officials say 850 students and staff in their district are now in quarantine with coronavirus and the CDC reported 27 percent of people in Crittenden County, Arkansas have been vaccinated.
In DeSoto County, the CDC reported that 35 percent of the population have been fully vaccinated and 41 percent in the county have received at least one dose of the vaccine, as of Wednesday morning, Aug. 4.
In the last seven days, the 444 additional cases in DeSoto County is an increase of 46.53 percent over the previous seven-day period, according to the CDC. The positivity rate of 18.58 percent in the past seven days is a jump of 4.92 percent.
New hospital admissions in the county, according to the CDC, is an increase of 121.43 percent to 12.97 per capita in the past week, and 33.08 percent of the hospital beds contain coronavirus patients. Thirty-two-point-nine percent of ICU beds the past week have COVID-19 patients.
CDC considers DeSoto County to be in a high level of community transmission.
