Another two people have succumbed to the coronavirus in Lincoln County since Friday, and 40 more cases have been reported.

Data published by the Mississippi State Department of Health Tuesday reported the county’s total COVID-related fatalities as 59 and 1,429 total cases.

MSDH reported 854 new cases and 20 new deaths statewide. There were 134 outbreaks in long-term care facilities.

The state has now seen 102,599 confirmed cases of the novel virus and 14,018 probable cases — 116,617 total. Of these, 3,283 people have died, 89% of which are confirmed to be COVID-related.

As of 6 p.m. Monday, 572 patients were hospitalized across the state for confirmed COVID-19 infection, 159 of which were in intensive care units. Sixty-three were on ventilators. An additional 106 patients were hospitalized with suspected coronavirus infections.

In Mississippi, 101,385 persons are presumed recovered.

Gov. Tate Reeves said Monday he is extending a mask mandate to an additional seven counties to try to control the spread of the virus, as cases rapidly increase in some areas. The new order takes effect today and lasts until at least Nov. 11.

Sixteen of the state’s 82 counties now have mask mandates for when they are indoors away from their homes. Social gatherings in those counties are also limited to 10 people indoors or 50 people outdoors.

The counties added to the list are Harrison, Madison, Benton, Carroll, Jones, Leake and Marshall. Counties already with restrictions are DeSoto, Jackson, Lee, Forrest, Lamar, Itawamba, Neshoba, Claiborne and Chickasaw.

Reeves said the restrictions are in counties that have had at least 200 confirmed virus cases or at least 500 confirmed cases per 100,000 residents during a recent two-week period.

“If you live anywhere in Mississippi and you want to be in the game and help us reduce the risk of spread and overwhelming the health care system — you go out in public, wear a mask,” Reeves said during a news conference. “Stay socially distanced. Don’t get close to one another. Don’t have big events … for social purposes.”

The governor said he does not anticipate that he will set a statewide mandate for people to wear masks to polling places on or before the Nov. 3 election.

“I do anticipate that the vast majority of Mississippians, when they go vote, are going to wear a mask,” Reeves said.

Mississippi confirmed its first cases of COVID-19 in March. For the first few months, Reeves set county-by-county mask mandates only in places with rapidly increasing case numbers. His only statewide mask mandate was in place from Aug. 4 to Sept. 30.

 

Testing

Testing is available in Brookhaven at King’s Daughters Medical Center. The COVID screening site is located behind the Emergency Room and will be open to the public 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday and 10 a.m-2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Traffic for this site should enter from Brookman Drive behind the hospital. This screening is for individuals 12 years of age and up. Call 601-835-9455 to make an appointment.

Testing is also available for those without insurance, on Mondays from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. outside the Lincoln County Health Department, 1212 Northpark Lane NE, Brookhaven. The Mississippi National Guard is in charge of performing these tests. Interested persons should call 601-496-7200 before arriving.

To find more testing facilities in the state, visit HealthyMS.com and click on “Getting Tested” in the blue menu on the left.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.