Things looking generally better: Weekly Covid summary 18May20:

New Albany MS Downward percentages continue both statewide for and locally, for Northeast Mississippi.

Though, as expected, raw numbers of new cases and deaths continue to climb, the percentage of increase in new cases and deaths has declined. This is good news and will be even better news if it continues apace.

5-11-2020 to 5-18-2020 lower percentages of increase

Mississippi statewide cases increased by 1758, a rise of 18%; the previous week cases rose 23%.
Mississippi statewide deaths increased by 93, a 21% increase; previous week deaths rose 40%
Northeast MS cases increased by 123, a 13% increase; previous week was up 15%
Northeast MS deaths increased by 12, a 16% rise; previous week’s rise was 24%

Nursing homes and other Long term Care (LTC)Facilities

Statewide:
- This week LTC facilities account for 13% (1489) of active diagnosed cases statewide; they account for 48% (254) of Covid-19 deaths across Mississippi. These percentages have been about stable since 5-10-2020 (death percent increases have fluctuated between 45-49%.)
Northeast MS
- As of 5-18-2020, LTC facilities comprise 26% (271) of NEMS cases and 54% (46) of regional deaths.
- On 5-11, LTC facilities had 27% of cases and 53% of deaths.

What is the take-away today?

For a lot of reasons, LTC facilities statewide continue to struggle with Covid-19. However their numbers a generally improving. The number of facilities with active cases is stable, if not declining. Yet, here remain several “hot spot” facilities, and they are being addressed individually by health officials.

In Northeast MS 9 of the 15 counties have had no nursing home deaths. Three counties have a total of 160 cases diagnosed, none of which are in LTC facilities.

The state is entering its third week of reopening the economy. May 14th’s new cases popped up to 393, but have remained lower for the past 4 days. Because deaths are expected to continue to rise for some time, the key indicator of the future is the amount of current new cases.

The take-away is that , while nursing home facilities are a problem in many areas, they are not the only source of potential coronavirus infection. Just staying away from nursing homes, etc., does not guarantee safety. Mississippians who are concerned for their health and the health of others, particularly those who are vulnerable, should continue to take precautions–and we’ve all been indoctrinated on how to do that.

Weekly Covid-19 trending*: National, Mississippi, NE Miss.

Data file	5-4-20	5-11-20	5-18-20	5-25-20
USA Cases	1,207,552	1,385,834	1,534,453
Deaths	69,374	81,795	91,268
MS Cases	7877 +29%	9674 +23%	11,432 +18%
Deaths	310 +35%	435 +40%	528 + 21%
NE MS Cases	810 +19%	930 +15%	1053 +13%
Deaths	59 +44%	73 +24%	85 +16%
Alcorn Cases	10	10	12
Deaths		1	1
Benton Cases	12	13	13
Deaths		0	0
Calhoun Cases	56	58	58
Deaths	4	4	4
Chickasaw Cases	78	93	116
Deaths	8	10	12
Clay Cases	52	66	79
Deaths	2	3	3
Itawamba Cases	64	69	79
Deaths	4	7	7
LaFayette Cases	93	101	109
Deaths	3	3	3
Lee Cases	72	80	93
Deaths	4	4	4
Marshall Cases	48	56	67
Deaths	2	2	3
Monroe Cases	175	199	220
Deaths	16	21	23
Pontotoc Cases	22	23	25
Deaths	2	2	2
Prentiss Cases	32	36	36
Deaths	1	2	3
Tippah Cases	58	66	69
Deaths	10	11	11
Tishomingo Cases	8	10	14
Deaths		0	0
Union Cases	30	50	62
Deaths	2	3	4

*All state data is from MS State Department of Health and is as of 6 PM on the day prior to reporting National data is from World-O-Meter and is current as of date of our report.

PDF of Chart: Covid-19 March 30 – May 11