The coronavirus rates begin to climb again as Thanksgiving approaches.

On Friday, the Mississippi Department of Health released its newest COVID-19 statistics. There were 967 new cases statewide, with 14 new deaths.

One of those deaths occurred in Lincoln County. The other deaths occurred in the following counties: Itawamba, Lee, Prentiss, Sunflower, Tate, Tippah and Washington.

Six COVID-19 related deaths occurred between Oct. 13 and Oct. 30 after being identified through death certificates. These occurred in Forrest, Hancock, Jackson, Lauderdale, Leake and Neshoba counties.

In Lincoln County, the number of cases currently sits at 1,516. There have been 62 deaths, 102 LTC outbreaks and 33 LTC deaths total for the area.

There are 113 current long-term care facility outbreaks. An outbreak constitutes a single confirmed COVID-19 infection in an LTC facility resident or more than one infection in employees or staff in a 14-day period.

Hospitalizations have not slowed down in the Magnolia State, with 537 patients currently being treated for the coronavirus. Out of that total, 103 patients are in intensive care and 76 patients are on ventilators.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been 124,854 COVID-19 cases and 3,419 deaths in Mississippi. MSDH presumes 105,839 of those cases have recovered.

According to MSDH, more than a million tests have been conducted statewide for the coronavirus, with the total sitting at 1,095,352. Out of that total, 942,578 have been for positive detection of the virus, 45,873 have been for antibodies and 106,901 have been for antigens.

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. 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. 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.”