KOSCIUSKO, Miss.–The state Dept. of Health reported 67 more COVID deaths Tuesday. One of those people was in Attala County. Another was in Neshoba, a county that has had the highest number of cases in the state, per capita.
Three more people were reported dead from the virus in Scott County and one in Winston County.
“Instead of seeing women bury their parents, we’re seeing women bury their children,” said state health officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs, at a Tuesday news conference at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. More than 20,000 children were reported in quarantine, according to data from the state Dept. of Health.
Today MSDH is reporting 3,323 more cases of COVID-19 in Mississippi, 67 deaths, and 172 ongoing outbreaks in long-term care facilities. State #covid19 totals: 392,309 cases, 7,880 deaths, and 1,083,731 persons fully vaccinated. Full information: https://t.co/YCv9xPyJDk pic.twitter.com/asdbrAcUFA
— MS Dept of Health (@msdh) August 17, 2021
MSDH received these reports from more than 800 schools across the state. That is about 4.5 percent of the state’s entire student population.
“What we’re finding is in a lot of schools are picking and choosing through these recommendations in a cafeteria-style approach,” said state epidemiologist Dr. Paul Byers, in a meeting with the Mississippi Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. “The intent of this is really it needs to be all of these layers in order to prevent transmission.”
Byers said you can expect to hear about the disruptions “for a while”.