Seventy-nine new positive COVID-19 tests were reported for Lincoln County Tuesday, as well as one related death.

The county has now reported 7,453 total cases of the virus and 144 deaths over the course of the pandemic.

The Mississippi State Department of Health reported 4,249 new cases Tuesday, lifting the state’s to-date total to 731,667 positive test results. MSCH also reported 109 new deaths — 19 that occurred Jan. 21-31 and 90 identified from death certificate reports Jan. 1-23. The 90 include one death in Amite County, two in Copiah County, one in Lawrence County, two in Pike County, one in Walthall County and the one in Lincoln.

Total Mississippi deaths now number 11,044.

The majority of cases of the coronavirus in Mississippi are currently from the Omicron variant. Since Omicron was first identified in the state in December 2021, the Delta variant has been identified in fewer cases as the newer variant has steadily been identified in more.

On Dec. 11, Delta cases constituted 93.1 percent of all positive test results, while Omicron cases made up 3 percent. By Christmas Day, Delta cases had dropped below 50 percent just as Omicron cases rose above 50 percent.

As of Jan. 22, Delta cases made up only 1.3 percent of all positive test cases while 93.6 percent of Mississippi residents testing positive for COVID-19 had the Omicron variant.

SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is constantly changing and accumulating mutations in its genetic code over time, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the United States, 99.9 percent of all positive tests conducted on Jan. 29 — the CDC’s most recent available data — were from the Omicron variant.