Yalobusha County Sheriff’s Department announced Tuesday the death of Sheriff Mark D. Fulco.

According to the department’s social media post, Fulco died around 1 p.m. from complications of COVID-19 and pneumonia.

“Sheriff Fulco was a fearless advocate of the Sheriff’s Department and the citizens that he served.  A career law enforcement officer, Sheriff Fulco made many friends and touched many lives,” the YCSD said in the post.

Fulco’s death came six days after the death of Hinds County Sheriff Lee Vance, who was found non-responsive at his home Aug. 4 and pronounced dead by medical personnel. Vance had tested positive for COVID-19 two weeks earlier and his death was linked to complications from the virus.

The deaths occurred during the “fourth wave” of coronavirus COVID-19 as the delta variant spreads rapidly. The virus is “sweeping over Mississippi like a tsunami,” according to state health officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs.

The Mississippi State Department of Health reported 3,488 new cases Tuesday, the highest number of positive cases on a single day since the pandemic began in March 2020.

Fulco was honored Tuesday night in a “sea of blue” as law enforcement officers escorted his body from Baptist DeSoto Hospital in Southaven to a funeral home in Water Valley.