Even as COVID-19 cases reported to the Mississippi State Department of Health and hospitalizations continue on an upward trend, overall COVID-19 activity is still low.

As of Monday, 63 people were hospitalized in Mississippi with confirmed COVID-19 infections, up from 22 one week ago. An additional 15 were hospitalized with suspected infections. Four COVID patients were in intensive care units, with two on ventilators.

Community transmission level is low for Lincoln, Lawrence and surrounding counties. The level is low for 80 of the state’s counties, all except Jasper and Wilkinson, which are at a medium transmission level.

In counties with a low level of transmission, MSDH recommends staying up-to-date with vaccines and getting tested if symptoms develop. Masks and other precautions may be needed in medium-level areas for those who are at high risk for severe illness.

Approximately 3 percent of COVID tests in Lincoln County were positive for the virus May 8-14, a drop of 1.09 percent over the previous week. Forty-four new cases have been reported in the county for the week of May 10-16. As of May 16, Lincoln has recorded 8,368 total positive cases of the coronavirus.

The county has recorded a total of 157 deaths related to the virus. Twenty-one of those cases have been reported within 2022, but no new deaths have been reported since the week ending April 11.

As of Wednesday morning, no patients were hospitalized at King’s Daughters Medical Center in Brookhaven with COVID-related issues.