Two people have died in Lincoln County from coronavirus-related causes since midweek, and 34 positive cases of the virus have been reported, according to data from the Mississippi State Department of Health.

The county now has 1,389 cases and 57 deaths. Thirty-five of those deaths were in long-term care facilities since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and 162 people in LTC facilities were infected with the virus.

MSDH has reported 2,554 new cases across the state in the past three days — 801, 958 and 795 — and 36 deaths over that same time period.

The state has now seen 100,939 confirmed cases of the novel virus and 12,937 probable cases — 113,876 total. Of these, 3,238 people have died, 90.5% of which are deaths confirmed to be COVID-related.

As of 6 p.m. Thursday, 597 patients were hospitalized across the state for confirmed COVID-19 infection, 158 of which were in intensive care units. Seventy were on ventilators. An additional 104 patients were hospitalized with suspected coronavirus infections.

In Mississippi, 97,675 persons are presumed recovered.

Across the nation, more than 8.3 million cases of the novel virus have been reported, and more than 221,000 people have died as a result of COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Worldwide, more than 40.9 million people have contracted the virus, more than 1.13 million have died and approximately 28 million have recovered.

On Friday, the coronavirus was a central topic for both President Donald Trump and Democrat presidential hopeful Joe Biden as they campaigned in Delaware. The virus was also a topic of disagreement in final presidential debate Thursday night in Nashville.

Trump’s campaign Friday was seizing on comments from Biden in the debate that he would be willing to again impose virus-related lockdowns to slow the spread of COVID-19, which has killed more than 220,000 Americans.

The rivals squared off Thursday night over Trump’s handling of the virus, which killed more than 1,000 Americans on that day alone. The president rosily predicted that it will “go away;” Biden countered that the nation was headed toward “a dark winter.”

“He says that we’re learning to live with it,” Biden said of Trump. “People are learning to die with it.”

MSDH tips to stay healthy

• Keep groups sizes small and avoid large gatherings, especially indoors. Many cases are now being spread through gatherings in homes without safety precautions.

• Social distancing is still critical to stop the spread of COVID-19. Keep plenty of distance between yourself and others.

• Wearing a mask or face covering can sharply reduce the risk of passing COVID-19 on to others. Wearing a mask is strong recommended whenever you are in public places with others around you.

• Remind others that precautions remain essential, and set an example by your actions.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.