Mississippi sees rise in COVID-19 symptoms. Health officials unsure if surge is coming

Mississippi health care officials told the Clarion Ledger on Friday that the state has seen a slight increase in COVID-19 symptoms, but no surge is expected to come.

According to the state Health Department records, the number of COVID-19-like illness visits has been on the rise since late July.

The department's records show visits increased from 1,000 in July to nearly 3,000 as of Aug. 17 — the most recent data. This is the first time visits have neared 3,000 since early January.

Last year, visits in August 2023 were slightly below 2,500.

Mississippi State Department of Health Epidemiologist Kathryn Taylor said that since the beginning of the pandemic, the state department of health has seen increases in the summer and again in the winter for the state of Mississippi, which also corresponds with a national trend.

"The current increase in COVID-19-like illness seems to be slowing down and the overall volume of presentations is still significantly less than was seen during the previous Delta or Omicron surges," Taylor said.

According to the department's records, the state saw visits as high as 4,000 in January 2021, 6,000 in August 2021, and 9,000 in January 2022.

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Despite the slight uptick in cases, hospitalizations for COVID-19 remain consistent in Mississippi.

Caroline Gillard, a public relations coordinator for the Mississippi Baptist Medical Center, said as of Aug. 23, the medical center is averaging 20 inpatient COVID-19 cases for the month of August.

"The 20 inpatient COVID-19 cases are average (numbers)," Gillard said.

Rachel Vanderford, a public relations specialist at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, told the Clarion Ledger that infectious disease physicians in both adult and pediatric medicine believe there are "no signs of a surge at this time."

"We haven’t seen any increases with children, but we’ve had a slight uptick in adult cases in the past six weeks. More severe cases are in older adults and those with other health issues," Vanderford said.

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All health officials told the Clarion Ledger that COVID-19 transmission can be impacted by a number of things but some factors that may be contributing to the spread are the increase in social gatherings, summer vacations and children returning to school.

The Mississippi Department of Health previously told the Clarion Ledger the department does not have specific information on when the latest COVID-19 vaccine will be released for ordering, though it will likely be toward the end of September.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Mississippi sees rise in COVID-19 symptoms. Health officials unsure if surge is coming